Sun In Your Hands
by walker-baitxx
Summary: [Full summary inside.] Takes place from the beginning of Jedi Knight Chapter 3 to the end and, of course, contains spoilers, as well as spoilers and stuff from Drew Karpyshyn's "Revan" novel. Rating will go up later on. Book one. [Title inspired by "Together" by the xx]
1. Chapter 1: Interlude

**Hi there. Eek. This is my first SWTOR fic and my first fic in a _long_ time so please bear with me. But anyhoo, I've had this idea flitting around my head for a few weeks now, since I finished the JK storyline with a gray Jedi for the first time. I've also cross-posted this on AO3.**

 _ **Some of the dialogue is direct from game and belongs to the lovely people who wrote it.**_

* * *

 ** _In over three hundred years he had not forgotten her face. He'd thought about it every single day in his service to his Emperor, committing to memory every centimeter of it, though he could not even see color. Everything from her scars to the self-assured yet indomitable smirk she wore. However she did not wear that smirk now, as she floated in a kolto tank. No, now she did not seem so proud. She was half-conscious and vulnerable, soon to be another tool of the Emperor's._**

 **Aurelia Antall was born a Sith - and became a Jedi. She fled Korriban at the age of eleven with a training blade, a grievous scar, and a deep hatred for the Empire. When she was recruited into the Jedi Order a few years later she vowed to do anything it took to destroy the Sith. By the time she was hailed as the Hero of Tython any Imperial that had stood in her way had been ended - and she was only twenty. So when she was asked to join a strike force against the Sith Emperor she accepted without hesitation. However, the confrontation went horribly wrong and now she's thought lost and fallen by her Order and her Republic. But a dark ally waits in the shadows to free her, and with his help she could end the Emperor once and for all.**

* * *

 **Chapter One: Interlude**

In over three hundred years he had not forgotten her face. He'd thought about it every single day in his service to his Emperor, committing to memory every centimeter of it, though he could not even see color. The deep scars that criss-crossed under her right eye, across her nose, down her cheek and lips. Those dark green eyes, her pale skin, the black hair she'd pulled into a tight bun, the self-assured yet indomitable smirk she wore. However she did not wear that smirk now, as she floated in a kolto tank. No, now she did not seem so proud. She was half-conscious and vulnerable, soon to be another tool of the Emperor's.

Scourge sighed as he turned away. How had she fallen so quickly? She was the Hero of Tython; she was the one - he'd known it as soon as she had defeated Scourge himself, only days ago. She'd fought relentlessly, stronger than any Jedi he had ever known and instead of fear inside her, he'd felt courage, bordering on pride. It was safe to say not one who'd faced off against the Emperor's Wrath before had ever been so self-assured. And, if Scourge was being honest with himself, she had defeated him quite handily.

Only to fall almost instantly at the Emperor's feet moments later.

But how? What had gone wrong? She was incredibly powerful - he had experienced it firsthand. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Because, once she was healed from the injuries she suffered at his master's hands, he was supposed to bring her to the overseer who'd just arrived from the Academy. And then she would be the Emperor's.

The medbay door opened and Scourge looked as a human doctor and her droid entered, the woman murmuring a "Lord Wrath" with her head bent, and he watched as they approached the Jedi's kolto tank. They began the preparations to remove her from the tank, and he felt a string of fear in the doctor, a streaming current beneath her focus.

"Careful," he admonished, folding his arms across his chest, almost smirking as her anxiety grew. "Our Lord Emperor would not want his special prize damaged."

"Then maybe he should not have ordered her out so early," the doctor said. "She is not fully healed. She - "

Scourge did not even have to raise his hand anymore to Force choke. Granted, he did not intend to kill with this one; it was merely to remind the doctor of her place and when he let her go she didn't speak another word.

A few moments later and the Hero of Tython stood before him, looking the same as she had in his vision, down to the arrogant smirk. But he could feel, quite clearly, the darkness inside her, the Emperor's presence. She would have to break Vitiate's control of her if she was to defeat him. A monumental feat, of course. But if anyone could do it, it would be the Hero of Tython; the Jedi from Scourge's vision. Or so he hoped.

* * *

Early on in the Hero's training Scourge asked his Emperor - "Why her, my lord? Why keep her here and not send her to Korriban with the other Jedi?" He took a deep breath, hoping he would not sign the Hero's death warrant here, "Better yet, why not simply end her? She has been almost a constant interference since she struck down Lord Tarnis."

The Emperor sat upon his throne, not slouching, but not completely straight; somewhere in between (a phrase that described him well - he was not quite man but not quite anything else either; his voice was human yet it bordered on the ethereal) and he responded, with the voice of a thousand souls, "She is powerful. We will use her, and she will become a powerful weapon of our Empire."

He told Scourge who she was - not her 'official' Jedi title as the Hero of Tython, but her true identity, her name. He realized he knew who she was. And it became clear to Scourge why she was here and not on Korriban, and why the Emperor hadn't destroyed her when he had the chance. For the Hero of Tython had been born Sith with the name Aurelia, to two of the Order's more impressive warriors and commanders in the Great War. She'd attended the Academy on Korriban as a child, and escaped at a young age. So it's personal. She betrayed the Empire, the Sith Order, her family, and became a Jedi. Using her, he can prove the dark side triumphs - and he can exact some revenge on her and the Jedi Order. But Scourge did not voice this; instead he merely nodded his understanding.

* * *

Scourge remained on the Emperor's Fortress at his own request even after the war turned in their favor; a month into Aurelia's training he asked the Emperor if he could personally oversee her lightsaber instruction. He did not declare his ulterior motive, of course - that if he could help her defeat Vitiate in any way, he would. So almost every day, before she went to Overseer Chaskar, she came to Scourge. He taught her tricks and techniques only he knew, knowing her muscle memory would remember what her mind might not when she overcame this possession. And she learned quickly, taking him down even when he didn't let her win.

* * *

He had been present every time her companions were interrogated; the Empire would not want to miss out on the Republic secrets they held, or so the Inquisitors said. Though, ultimately, Scourge knew such secrets would not matter; whether or not the Sith Empire won the war would not matter. Not unless Aurelia awoke and destroyed the Emperor.

* * *

He stood a few meters away as she quickly and smoothly took down an Imperial battle droid, and he had to marvel at her power and how being under the Emperor's control had only made her stronger. She looked at him now, her young face nearly glowing from the fervor of combat, as if she was fighting a smile.

"I guess you are teaching me a few things, old man," she said, and he wondered - not for the first time - if the teasing was her real personality, or if that was the dark side seeping into her. Though, what else would he expect from the Jedi that had sassed him on Quesh?

"I said I would."

She let her smile through, briefly, and then sighed. "Guess I'm due to meet Chaskar now." She met Scourge's eyes again and he could see the emerald color of them in his mind even if he couldn't actually see them. "He's incredibly snobbish, isn't he?"

"It is even worse on Korriban," Scourge half-muttered. "It seems as if every Sith born in the last fifty years is insufferably arrogant."

"I remember." A side effect of her current state, no doubt deliberate; she remembered her childhood on Dromund Kaas and her time at the Sith Academy perfectly, up until the moment she started planning her escape, and everything after that was gone. Aurelia sighed again. "I should get going before he decides to use me for lightning practice."

"He won't if it was the Emperor's Wrath keeping you." A smirk crossed her lips and she closed a few steps between them, her voice dropping to a purr when she spoke. "And how, exactly, would the Wrath keep me?"

She did this often, tried to flirt with him to unbalance him and crack his exterior. It was entertaining, if he was being honest, enough so that he had never informed her of his, er, lack of humanity so to speak, and entertaining enough that he played along. And it was decidedly another effect of the dark side - one of the more amusing ones, of course. Because knowing what he'd researched of Aurelia and her intense hatred for both his kind and the Order itself she would never willingly flirt with a Sith of her own volition. "I'm sure I can think of something," he murmured, stepping closer, pleased when she blushed.

"Well," she said softly as she tipped her head back to maintain eye contact, touching her hand to his torso, just below the thick patch of armor on his chest. It was odd, seeing her touching him but not being able to feel it. "Maybe if I leave you can spend more time thinking of some extra-creative… activities for us tomorrow."

As she walked away he couldn't help but watch her - and not because she was purposely swaying her hips like that - but because she intrigued him. Here was the Jedi he'd seen in his vision, defeating the Emperor and taking his place, fallen and corrupted to the dark side. Yet, in his mind, the vision had not changed. Aurelia was still the one.

Scourge sighed as he turned back, heading for the throne room. It was empty - Vitiate had informed his Wrath a day or so ago that he was returning to Dromund Kaas for an undisclosed reason, leaving Scourge effectively 'in charge' of the Fortress. Not that there was much to be in charge of - it was a secret, cloaked station and had been relatively empty since the war started more than a year ago. His eyes slid over the throne and he tried, for a moment, to picture Aurelia on it. His vision had depicted her with the Emperor's power, both Force and political, after all. But something told him she would not accept it. It -

The Emperor suddenly roared in his mind, a blood-chilling sound of fury, and Scourge could feel the weight of his rage. And then he knew the source of his master's anger - the darkness that had previously pervaded Aurelia was no longer there. She'd broken his control. Scourge moved quickly, running through the plan he'd concocted a few weeks ago in case this happened. He needed to gain her trust - and fast.

He made his way to the hangar and ignited his lightsaber. The first wave of soldiers put up hardly any fight and he slaughtered them with ease. The second wave, of about three or four soldiers, brought out heavier blasters and a simple throw of his lightsaber wasn't enough to take them all out. He deflected blaster bolt after blaster bolt until he leapt at the last heavy soldier and plunged his crimson blade deep into the man's chest. The confusion in Aurelia's companions was almost overwhelming as he tried to focus on Aurelia herself. There were only three in the hangar - the doctor, the alien soldier, and the droid, and he freed them from their cages.

"Where is the Jedi girl?" Scourge demanded, de-igniting his saber.

The doctor stammered.

The soldier glared.

And the droid beeped. "Sith = took her for 'interrogation'. Sith = said Aurelia would torture her."

Scourge sighed heavily. Damned Chaskar. He needed permission for something like that - which, of course, he'd never received. But this meant Aurelia would meet and could free the girl and hopefully soon they could leave. It would not be long before the remaining soldiers on the Fortress converged on them in the hangar, and without a doubt the Emperor would return as soon as he could, almost definitely having felt the wound of Scourge's sudden betrayal.

"You're - you're not gonna kill us, are ya?" the doctor asked quietly, bending down to check the vitals of one of the soldiers.

"Why would I have freed you only to kill you?" Scourge sighed as a fresh squad of soldiers rushed in and he drew his saber again. He tore through them easily, much like the first group, nearly irritated that they did not put up much of a fight either. And then he felt Aurelia's presence, the anger seeping into it, and he turned towards her, brandishing his saber. She had one of hers drawn, the white-gray crystal shimmering. The Jedi beside her had ignited her double-bladed saber.

"Step away from my ship," Aurelia demanded, her voice strong as it carried across the hangar. "We're leaving." Her pure hatred of him touched him and he sighed inwardly. It would take a lot of convincing to keep her from killing him.

"If I wanted to fight, I would not have freed your crew or killed these guards."

The astromech rolled up to her, beeping and trilling, and Aurelia's face softened slightly. Yet she still held her lightsaber, even as her companions gathered around her.

"More guards will come," Scourge said, keeping his voice soft but firm. He put his lightsaber back at his hip. "Shall we go before they arrive? Or would you like to be here when the Emperor himself returns?"

"Our last duel was interrupted," she frowned. "This one won't be."

He sighed. She had tried the same goading tactic on Quesh, and he was astute enough to step around it. "Destroy me, and the galaxy dies."

"Ha," she scoffed. "I know Sith are famous for their arrogance, but that's quite the claim."

He approached her, felt her resolve harden the closer he got. "I could've killed you on Quesh, had I wanted," he said. "Did you never wonder why I hesitated?"

Aurelia's frown faltered and her grip on her lightsaber loosened. He was getting to her.

"I have waited over three hundred years to see the face that came to me in a vision. Your face."

His words were like a blow to her brain; the sensation of it reached him and he almost smiled, and when she spoke again she did so slowly, as if trying to make sense of it. "If that's true, you could've told me this on Quesh. Or in your master's fortress."

"I needed to be sure you were the one I was searching for," he said. "I needed to be sure the time had come. And now I know."

"Know what?"

"Only a few beings have ever broken the Emperor's domination," Scourge said, his eyes flicking between Aurelia and the other Jedi. "You and that girl are special." And he wasn't blind to the surge of pride in her chest.

"Kira and I have the power to destroy your master."

"Not yet," Scourge said quietly, closing the distance between them. "Not without my help. Though the Emperor seeks to conceal his true plans, I have seen them. That vision has driven me to this…" And he knelt before her, keeping his eyes locked on hers, saw the confusion in them. "I pledge my loyalty to you. Take me to your Jedi Council on Tython, and I'll reveal why."

It was silent for a moment, and he knew she was weighing the options. Hopefully she realized she had more to gain by allowing him to join her side. He just had to convince her of that, and he wondered if she remembered the time they'd spent together while she'd been under the Emperor's influence, the conversations they'd had. Presumably not, judging by the frown on her face. And then her companions tried to dissuade her and his irritation rose. If only they knew…

"I seek to save this galaxy from annihilation," Scourge interjected, staying on his knee, keeping his eyes locked on Aurelia's. "Without my help, your ship will never escape. I can guide you to freedom."

She looked back at him, her eyes burning, and he almost thought she would decapitate him then and there. But she didn't. She de-ignited her lightsaber and returned it to her hip, yet when she spoke her voice was hard. "If I'm taking you to the Jedi homeworld you'll be under guard at all times. Don't try anything."

He inwardly chided himself for being worried and stood up. "Your flattery is pointless," he smirked slightly. "I do not seek your people's deaths - only their cooperation."

The Chagrian soldier made a poor attempt at a threat, and Scourge almost scoffed. "Time is a luxury we no longer possess," he said. "We must leave - now."

She touched his mind with the Force, and he let her, knowing she was seeking the truth. He had nothing to hide, and she needed to be able to trust him. "Fine," she conceded. "I'll trust you - for now. Let's go."

Scourge trailed behind the three companions he'd freed, Aurelia and the other Jedi behind him, as they made their way to her ship. He briefly heard the Jedis' conversation as he leaned against the open door, waiting for them to catch up.

"... He defeated me, Kira," Aurelia was saying, her eyes on her boots. "With a teeny bit of lightning."

"Yeah, and then you fought his control. You bested him in the end."

She's insecure.

Aurelia sighed again and stopped walking. "Not 'til Master Orgus showed up and kicked me in the ass to get me to best him."

And she still speaks to her dead Master.

"I couldn't have beaten the Emperor without your help, anyway." The Jedi girl touched Aurelia's arm with a soft sigh. "You can do this. You're strong enough, Aurelia. I know you are. Teeseven knows it, Rusk knows it, Doc knows it, Master Satele knows it… even Lord Grump in there knows it."

Scourge scoffed. "More soldiers are on their way," he called. "We must leave."

Aurelia caught his eyes with a huff but walked up the ramp anyway, the other Jedi trailing close behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Memories and Jedi Platitudes

**This chapter includes spoilers for chapters two/three of the Sith Warrior storyline oops.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Memories and Jedi Platitudes**

After the course for Tython was set Aurelia called her crew to gather together, Scourge included. It would be a few hours until they reached the Jedi homeworld, and there was a lot to sort through. Her mind was trying to make sense of it all, trying to put all the memories in place, trying to remember what she couldn't... Doc, Kira, and Rusk sat at the table near the intercom as Scourge leaned against a far wall and Teeseven rolled up beside Aurelia. Nobody spoke for a few moments, and Aurelia couldn't look at her crew. Everything just felt so… weird. Partly due to Scourge's presence, probably, but she could feel that she was different too. And she hated it.

"How long was I out?" she asked softly, still refusing to look up.

"I'm - we don't know," Doc responded. "None of really know how long we were - "

"Six months," Scourge said.

"Six _months_?" Aurelia shook her head. "Master Orgus appeared to me... told me I did… things…"

"You don't remember?" Kira's voice was soft, hesitant. "Are you sure you want to know?"

She caught her former Padawan's blue eyes. "Was it that bad?"

Kira sighed but she didn't respond. Nobody responded, and Aurelia's heart started to pound.

"Please," she murmured. "I have to know."

"They trained you as Sith." Scourge straightened up from the wall, folding his thick, muscular arms across his chest. His voice was almost flat as he spoke. "The Emperor used you as propaganda - to prove that the dark side was indeed stronger than the light; the great Hero of Tython, fallen to him. You were his weapon, and he used you at his whim. You slaughtered acolytes and slaves, Imperial traitors, Republic prisoners of war - "

The more he spoke, the harder her heart pounded. Her stomach tightened into knots so taut she felt physically ill. Tears burned in her throat and her behind her eyes and her heart drummed in her ears and her hands shook and her body shook and -

"That's enough, _Scourge_ ," Kira spat.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

Aurelia took deep breaths, acutely aware of all eyes on her. Everything she'd spent her life fighting to get away from; everything she'd spent her life trying to not become. "I did all that?" Her voice shook.

"It wasn't you," Kira said immediately. "It was him."

It was so hard to breathe.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

"The Republic won't see it like that," she whispered. "The Council…"

" _Jedi = good person_ ," Teeseven chirped beside her.

"Thank you, Tee." But her voice still trembled.

 _There is no emotion, there is peace._

"We'll kill him," Kira said. "We can't let him hurt anyone else."

Aurelia shook her head, as if snapping from a trance. "We're not killing him."

"What?"

"You've got to be kidding, beautiful."

"It's the Emperor."

"Then what do you plan to do with him?" Scourge asked, steel in his voice. "You have no idea what he is capable of, Jedi. If you keep him alive - "

"He made me into the very thing I've been fighting my entire life," she said softly. "I can't be like that again. I won't."

No one spoke once more, and then Scourge scoffed softly, shaking his head. "I sincerely hope you change your mind," he said, "for the good of the galaxy."

Kira turned on him. "Why don't you just shut up? All you've done for the last hour or so is criticize and complain at Aurelia - she just spent the last six months under the Emperor's control, you jerk! Excuse her for being traumatized."

He looked at her levelly, calmly, his red face solemn despite the anger Aurelia could feel in him. But there was something else. Amusement? He smirked then, wryly, but he didn't respond.

"That's what I thought." Kira turned to sit right in her chair, then spat, "Son of a kath hound," under her breath.

Doc stifled a laugh.

"Please just… don't," Aurelia said softly. "We don't need to turn on each other right now." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Um, I have some, er, thinking to do. You're all free to go. Just, someone come let me know when we're near Tython." She left the room at that, feeling stress settling deep inside her bones as she headed for her quarters. She hadn't felt this way in so long - and she'd always hated it.

Once in her quarters, she allowed herself a nice, long cry. It'd been forever since she last cried, too (after defeating Darth Angral, remembering the way he'd struck down Master Orgus…), but it made her feel better. Then she got to her knees on the floor and meditated. She searched deep in her mind for every lost memory over the past six months. She forced herself to relive it all - except this time she felt each death as if it was her own. She saw her own lightsabers strike down a Sith acolyte. She saw her own gray crystals impale an Imperial traitor. She saw her own hand Force-choking a Republic soldier… and she saw herself behead a Padawan. The girl couldn't have been more than fourteen and a strangled cry wracked Aurelia's body as she felt the young woman's pain, felt the stab as the life left her body and she crumpled to the floor.

 _I...I did that. I murdered her. I murdered so many others… and all in_ his _name…_

Aurelia tried to fight the memories, tried to push them back.

 _You need to go through it,_ her mind argued. _You need to remember all of it. It'll make you stronger._

By the time she finished she was sobbing and shaking. What had she done? A few deep breaths and recitations of the Code helped calm her (if someone had told her a year ago that she would find comfort in the Code she would've laughed in their face) and she sat on the floor for a few moments, staring off into nothing.

 _What have I done?_

There was a knock on the closed door, and then she felt _his_ presence. Yet she stood anyway and moved to open the door. Obviously it was important if Scourge would willingly risk Kira's wrath to talk to her. He looked at her strangely for a second and then asked, in that low, hard voice of his, "Do you have a moment? I wish to speak."

"Then speak." She folded her arms across her chest, hoping it wasn't obvious that she'd been crying.

He hesitated slightly, maybe to ask if they could be alone, and then he sighed, looking at her. "I want to thank you for your trust, Jedi. I might not have given mine so freely were our positions reversed."

 _That's because Sith are freaky paranoid._ "I'll hear you out, but nothing more."

He smirked. "We work well together. In time you will believe me."

"Uh-huh."

That smirk grew a bit wider.

 _He's so arrogant._

"I will speak of my vision in detail to your Council. Suffice it to say," he sighed, "I have long opposed my lord Emperor. For a time, I worked with the greatest of your Jedi heroes - Revan, and the Exile."

Aurelia perked up at this. Wow.

"But they did not have the strength to complete their task."

And there it was - the inevitable insult. "You knew Revan? And the Exile?" she asked anyway, partially hating how excited she sounded.

"You will find no proof - I hid my association with them well. Nonetheless, I was their ally in the shadows, helping them oppose my lord Emperor."

 _A dark ally._

He described his vision to her, saying the Emperor even struck down Revan and the Exile. Not exactly confidence-boosting. "Then out of the shadows, one Jedi emerged to cut the Emperor down. That Jedi wore your face."

Aurelia wasn't impressed. Never having put much stock in visions before, this one sounded like a load of bantha fodder. "That's it?" she asked. "Doesn't give me much to go on."

"It is a vision, Jedi." He sounded tired. "Not a battle plan. In any case, I bowed to you and took a crown from the Emperor's head. The vision ended when you held his power in your hands."

"That's never going to happen - at least, not the last part."

Scourge smirked again but said nothing.

"Why do you do that? Smirk like that? It drives me crazy."

It widened and she rolled her eyes. "You are a rare breed of Jedi," he said softly. "No doubt from your childhood as a Sith."

She frowned. "You know - ?"

"Do not insult me. Of course I know. I remember when you were born. I remember your parents - Iovita and Lysander Antall. They were impressive warriors."

"Okay, that's creepy."

It was his turn to frown. "I am more than three hundred years old, Aurelia. There are many events I remember. Besides, your birth was celebrated on Dromund Kaas. You were the bright spot in the Great War - the first child of one of our greatest commanders."

"I know." She looked down, sighing, wishing he would take Kira's advice and just shut up.

And he did, for a moment, and she could feel his eyes on her. "You and I are a rare breed of Sith," he said finally.

"I am _not_ \- "

"You were born from two, no?"

Aurelia sighed and looked up at him again. "Do you have a point?"

"You and I are more alike than you care to admit. For starters, we are traitors."

"I don't consider the Empire my home," she spat. "I never have, and I never will."

"Ah, but you don't consider the Republic your home either."

He had a point, as much as she hated to admit it.

"We are not so different, and I only hope, for the good of the galaxy, you grow to trust me. Despite what you think, you have no reason not to."

Aurelia folded her arms across her chest again, frowning up at him. He was right - but she just wasn't ready. Having spent her entire life hating the Sith, to let one in now… "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

He gave a curt nod.

"Fine. I'll come find you when we reach Tython." And the door slid shut. She leaned back against it, closing her eyes.

She didn't let anyone else in until they arrived at the orbital station - not even Doc. She couldn't face him right now, after everything she'd done. Of course, she kept arguing with herself - _it wasn't you that did all those awful things_. But she had done them. It'd been her own gray sabers. It was _her_. She and Scourge sat in silence on the shuttle to Tython's surface; she had nothing to say to him. Well, that wasn't true. There was a lot Aurelia wanted to ask him but she wasn't sure she would like his responses. She normally didn't. And as she sat next to him she was severely aware of their closeness (it wasn't hard, stars he was _huge_ ) and she was severely aware of the fact that he intrigued her. And she didn't know why.

"I have a question for you," she said softly. "If I won't like the answer, will you lie to me?"

"No."

She sighed. "Fine." Irritation suddenly melted into apprehension and she played with a loose thread on her leggings. "Have you heard… how's my sister?"

Scourge didn't say anything for a moment, and then, "You will not like what I have to say."

"Just tell me. I need to hear it."

"She was a Sith Lord," he murmured.

Aurelia's heart fell. _No._ "I thought - I thought Cassia got out. Wait - " She couldn't breathe. "Was?"

He sighed. "I heard her master had her killed."

"Why?"

"She was powerful, like you, and he felt threatened by her."

She fought against tears and anger. She hated the Sith. She _hated_ them. Her dear, sweet sister was dead for something as petty as _power_? "Wouldn't I… I would've felt it."

"It happened a short time ago, while you were under the Emperor's control." Scourge looked away from her. "You didn't feel anything."

"When were you going to tell me?"

"I wasn't." His red eyes found hers. "And do not misplace your anger onto me. I am not the one to blame."

"Then who is?" she demanded through gritted teeth.

He looked on her for a few short moments. "This is not your main focus, Jedi. You knew your sister for a year when you were young and now she is dead. Do not let this sway you."

He was right. Kriff, he was right, and she hated it. She looked down at her leggings as tears threatened, however. "But Cassia was so… kind. She should've gotten out."

Scourge sighed, rising as the shuttle touched down. "We've arrived. Let's not waste our time."

How she wished Kira could be here instead. But she dried her eyes and led Scourge, stoically, to the Council chambers. She'd holo'd Master Satele just before leaving the _Defender_ , and they were expected. And she had almost forgotten how comforting it could be to stand in the Council chambers. Even with Scourge there, she could feel peace and serenity. She soaked it in for a moment as the few Council members there gathered around her - Master Satele, Master Kiwiiks, and Master Kaeden. Their concern for her was almost overwhelming.

"It's been so long," Satele said softly. "We thought you were lost forever."

 _So did I._ "You're not the only ones," Aurelia mumbled, and then with a clearer voice she spoke, "As I'm sure you well know the mission to seize the Emperor failed." The words tugged at her heart but she kept going. "He's more powerful than any of us realized. Master Braga, Leeha Narezz, and Warren Sedoru are still missing." Then she looked to Scourge for a moment, found him watching her. His eyes caught her off guard momentarily - _he's so intense_. "The Emperor's Wrath - Lord Scourge - helped us escape. He betrayed his master to join our side."

"Sith serve no one but themselves," Kaeden grumbled. "He _must_ have an ulterior motive."

Aurelia was almost excited for her new companion's retort - his arrogance made for good banter, if she was being honest, and Kaeden's ridiculous devotion to the old ways and the old thinking had always bugged her.

"You mustn't be so close-minded," Scourge said, his voice barely above a derisive murmur. "It's unbecoming for a Jedi."

Kaeden almost snarled, and Aurelia bit back a slight smile.

"In any case, I altered my loyalties to avert a threat to myself - and you," Scourge said, his voice ever detached. "Jedi are not alone in seeing the future." He then told the masters of his vision, said that Aurelia was the only Jedi who could stop the destruction the Emperor had planned. She could feel the masters' apprehension, and she knew they felt the same way she had.

"I wasn't sure what to think either," she told them, "when he first told me. But I believe him." Then, "I don't see a reason why we shouldn't," she added, and saw him stand a little straighter out of the corner of her eye.

"The renewed war is merely a diversion to conceal the Emperor's designs. His true plans are already in motion across the galaxy." He looked Satele Shan in her eyes. "One by one, every star system will simply die. Trillions will perish."

"How does that benefit the Emperor?" she asked.

"He'll feed on those deaths to become more powerful than all the Jedi and Sith combined."

 _Sounds like the Emperor I know._

"An immortal being of unlimited power," Scourge finished.

"That's nice and all, but once everyone's dead, who will he rule over?" Aurelia asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She was trying to be fearless but it was proving to be pretty damn difficult, with everything he was telling her.

Scourge's eyes found hers. "Domination holds no appeal to him. Only power."

She took a trembling breath and looked back down. This was not good, nor was it getting any better.

Scourge then launched into an old tale describing the ritual the Emperor would use. As awful as it was, Aurelia wasn't much surprised by what she heard. Of course the Emperor would devour an entire world - what else would she expect from the monster that had waged war for decades, that had enslaved her mind and made her a weapon? Not only that, he had manipulated his own people into helping him devour that world. Nonetheless, her breathing didn't grow any steadier. "The Emperor has shaped events for centuries towards one goal," Scourge continued. "He will perform an even greater ritual that will destroy this galaxy. But the sacrifice requires a great sacrifice to begin - billions of simultaneous deaths. He seeks to carry out such a sacrifice on Belsavis; he will commit genocide there."

Kaedan's brown eyes went wide and he shook his head, disbelief clear on his old face. "That prison planet holds the worst filth ever captured by the Republic. Mass murderers, tyrants - even captured Sith Lords." He fixed Scourge with a pointed look, and Scourge held back a sigh. "We've kept its location secret for years. How did the Emperor find it?"

Master Kiwiiks turned away, her voice sad. "It doesn't matter. If the Emperor has found it, so has the rest of the Empire."

"Once the sacrifice occurs, the ritual cannot be stopped," Scourge said as he looked at Aurelia. "We must save Belsavis."

She heard the hiss and hum of Kaeden's lightsaber before she saw it. Scourge turned towards it, contempt in his eyes as he stared down the Jedi Master.

"We?" The older man scoffed. "Your role in this is over, Sith," and he spat the word. "Surrender, and we will be merciful. But if you force my hand - "

"Put away your weapon, Master Kaeden." Aurelia tried to keep her voice calm and cool - if it came to violence, she wasn't sure which side she'd be on. But Scourge would slaughter him. "Scourge is cooperating. He'll come with me. There's no need for violence."

"I know the Emperor's ways," Scourge said evenly, as if there wasn't a lightsaber pointed at his face. "Belsavis is not the only world in danger. We must find the others and I cannot help you from a prison cell. Like it or not, we need each other. _You_ need _me_."

"He's right," Satele said softly, looking between the other two masters. "I can feel the truth. Without his help, we are all dead."

Kaeden put his lightsaber back at his hip but he still glowered at Scourge. Aurelia, however, could breathe again.

"The Council will concentrate on locating other worlds at risk - and finding our missing friends." She turned her kind eyes to Aurelia. "I'm counting on you to stop the Emperor's plans."

 _Because that worked out so well last time._ "I know none of you like this - but this is our only chance. Scourge is our only hope."

"I'm not thrilled with placing my hopes in a Sith Lord," Kaeden griped.

"We know," Aurelia snapped, trying and failing to keep her irritation in check. "But it's the only choice we have so please, for the sake of the galaxy, get over yourself. This is how we're doing it - Scourge is coming with me and he's gonna help us and if you don't like it, Kaeden, I don't particularly give a flying womp rat's ass."

Nobody spoke, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Scourge's shoulders shaking silently, and she worked hard to keep her face serious. Even though she'd disagreed with the Council before (and definitely with Kaeden) she'd never been so outright disrespectful. He was glaring at her now and his anger was palpable and Aurelia knew she should probably apologize but she didn't want to. In the silence that followed her remark she looked to Scourge, found his red eyes, urging her silently. She turned back to the masters.

"Well if no one else has any opinions they'd like to voice, Scourge and I should leave."

The masters nodded; Kaeden's was a brusque dip of his head.

"May the Force be with you," Satele said quietly, blue eyes earnest.

"Actually, Master Satele, before we leave, I was hoping to speak to you." She glanced back at Scourge. "Alone."

Kiwiiks and Kaeden took this as a sign to leave, the latter muttering to himself as he went, and Scourge leaned against a far wall as Aurelia and the Grandmaster each sat in a chair surrounding the Council table.

"I don't know how much you've heard about, um, the last six months," Aurelia began, "but - "

"We heard everything," Satele murmured, "and none of it was your fault."

She looked down, away from the older woman's gentle, forgiving face. "I keep hearing that."

"Aurelia, you weren't yourself. You had no control over your actions - "

"I remember all of it." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I killed so many people."

Satele sighed heavily. "Do you remember when you and I first met? You told me killing that dark Jedi hadn't affected you."

Aurelia's chest tightened. Calef. "Master Satele, I - "

"Hold on. The fact that you regret what you did under the Emperor's control is telling enough - you have changed, and you are nothing like him. You know, as well as I, you would never willingly turn and you would never willingly kill those you did." She touched Aurelia's cheek briefly, offering a warm smile. "Do not fret, young one. Remember the Code. You are stronger than him. You can do this."

Aurelia nodded, tears burning her throat at the older woman's kindness. Satele had always been her favorite; she'd regarded her as a mother, almost. "Thank you, Master Satele."

The two women stood and Satele faced her. "Contact me when you reach Belsavis," she said, and then her eyes flicked back to Scourge as he approached them. "And don't rely too closely on your 'ally'."

Scourge smirked at Aurelia. "I'm disrupting the fabled Jedi calm," he teased with a stone face. Then he grew serious once more. "I suggest we depart."

She followed after him in silence as they made their way back to the shuttle. The flight to the orbital station went much the same. It wasn't until they reached the airlock that Scourge spoke.

"The Darth that killed your sister is named Baras," he said softly as he walked beside her. "If we survive this I can help you exact your revenge."

 _You are stronger than him._ "I don't want revenge. But I appreciate the sentiment. I think."

Scourge made a noise between a snort and a scoff. "You could be so much more without those Jedi platitudes holding you back."

"Like what? The Emperor's executioner?"

"No. Like the woman I witnessed in the Council chambers, putting a Master in his place." Scourge looked upon her for what seemed like a minute or two. "You're too powerful to be kept down by any master, Jedi or Sith."

"Is that right?"

He nodded, and entered the ship.

Stars, this was going to be an interesting experience.


	3. Chapter 3: Belsavis, Part One

**I created a Tumblr page for my characters, so feel free to check it out [the link is on my profile page].**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Belsavis, Part One**

It was a few hours' flight to Belsavis and Aurelia spent a lot of it with Doc. After returning from the ship she went to the medbay and kissed him without a word. He held her and murmured, "I'm glad you're back, beautiful," and then Aurelia closed and locked the door. Everyone on the ship knew about their relationship, or whatever it was, (and now so did Scourge, and she knew he wouldn't let her live it down for awhile), and nobody came down to the medbay for a long while for anything. In fact, Aurelia and Doc didn't leave until Kira braved knocking and letting them know they'd docked at the Belsavis orbital station. They dressed, Aurelia pulling her hair back into its tight bun, bangs falling into her eyes, and she dodged a smirk from Scourge as they all gathered around the holoterminal.

Master Satele told her anything she knew about Belsavis, including the fact that the Empire had just attacked the world in some simultaneous air strike and prison riot. Aurelia groaned internally. Kriffing Empire. Why can't anything ever be easy? According to Scourge it was just a diversion, so that the Emperor could focus on his ritual. Master Satele informed them that their target was some high-up Imp named 'Executor Krannus', and that he had just arrived. Personally, the man didn't seem intimidating in the least - people only had titles like that if they were trying to overcompensate or something. But Scourge insisted he was dangerous so, Aurelia conceded, he probably was. A little bit. Well, dangerous enough that Satele deemed Aurelia the only one strong enough to take him on. There'd been a lot of that going around lately - hadn't she been the only one strong enough to defeat the Emperor?

"Are you sure I can do it?" she asked softly, hearing the insecurity seep into her voice.

"Without a doubt," Satele responded, and Aurelia sensed the truth in her words. But it didn't do much to calm her nerves.

A few moments later she and Scourge were headed to the airlock, Kira having hissed a brief, "Watch your back," in her ear. On the shuttle they sat silently again, Aurelia lost in thought. She still wasn't sure if she trusted Scourge. He was a Sith. She knew firsthand they were famous for betrayal and deception (Tarnis was a prime example, let alone all the ones she had encountered from her days at the Academy). What if all this was a ruse to capture her - or end her, once and for all? But he'd gone to the Council. He'd sounded so sincere, made Master Satele believe him.

 _Maybe he's just that good an actor._

But he wasn't lying - the Force told Aurelia that much. She sighed heavily, shaking her head, hoping Scourge was really for real. They touched down at the main Republic base, and as they headed for a speeder to take them closer to Enna Tabord's coordinates, Aurelia could feel the mood of the base change. Every face they passed regarded Scourge with a scowl or a glare - some of the more gutsy people cursed or muttered under their breath. But he kept his head high, staring straight ahead - she could feel his discomfort rising. It was a mix between anger and irritation. Stars. She'd never given any thought to how any of this would affect him. She remembered his words from earlier - _we're both traitors_ \- and sighed. He'd given up everything he had in the Empire to help her. He was risking his life for this.

And she felt awful for not trusting him.

"I drive," she said as she climbed onto the speeder.

But not awful enough to let him drive.

Scourge made a noise, but no further protests as he got on behind her. And Aurelia spent way too much time focusing on his presence. He was incredibly tense, and his large, strong hands burned through his gauntlets and the light armor on her stomach. It was… interesting. Nice. Nice because Belsavis was freaky cold - a cold that no one had prepared her for. The cold wind whipping around them was enough to make her shiver and her teeth were chattering by the time they hopped off the speeder. It wasn't as unforgiving as Hoth had been (a planet she swore never to return to) but cold enough that she wished she'd opted for thermal robes before leaving the ship. She put her own arms around herself, trying desperately to keep her jaw from moving unnecessarily.

But that became impossible when Scourge smirked at her.

"Aren't you _cold_?" His armor looked lighter than hers in terms of warmth.

He gave a light shrug. "We should not delay. The Jedi should be right in there." He pointed to a small, nearby building, and Aurelia sighed, stalking after him.

Well, Enna Tabord was in the building. Just dead. An unfamiliar Zabrak man crouched beside her, and he looked up at Aurelia. The electrostaff at his back and the fact that he was the only one next to a dead Jedi made her itch for her lightsaber. She held a hand over it as she and Scourge approached him, and he stood.

He tried to explain the situation to her, with a tremulous voice, saying Enna had asked him to help her; that he was a self-proclaimed "expert" on Belsavis, and that, "I had no idea what I was signing up for. Now I just wanna get out of this alive."

Mm-hmm. Aurelia wasn't buying it - it just seemed too… convenient. "Jedi aren't easy to kill. What happened to Enna?"

Beside her, Scourge sighed, folding his arms across his chest. "We do not have time for this," he muttered.

"You aren't the least bit curious what happened?" Aurelia asked as she faced him.

He shook his head. "She's already dead, Jedi. Knowing how it happened will not bring her back."

"But whatever killed her could still threaten us. So let the man talk."

Scourge made another noise in the back of his throat but he didn't speak, and Aurelia felt a momentary pang of pride at effectively getting him to be quiet for a minute.

Pak eyed them both for a moment before explaining that Enna had come back from a scouting run barely alive. She'd blamed Imps and told Pak everything and that, of course, none of it was good news. Nothing ever was.

"Did she happen to mention anything about an Executor Krannus?" Aurelia asked. "He's an Imperial officer. Red-skinned Sith."

Pak's eyes shifted to Scourge for a fraction of a second. "Enna told me the Imperials are entrenched by the main reactor. They were taking orders from a pureblood Sith."

"We know where they are? Let's go."

"Whoa, not so fast. They have heavy weapons and a ray shield protecting their position. Nobody's moving them from that reactor anytime soon."

It was always something. "Well, if Krannus is there, we have to figure something out. Maybe we can take out the shields?"

According to Pak they could, with a few ion charges. At her insistence, he gave her the charges and promised to make sure that Enna's remains got the respect they deserved. "Good luck," he told her. "And watch your back."

Aurelia and Scourge got each of the ion charges in place - they had to battle a few Imps and Sith to do it, though, and as she watched the last Sith fall she wondered how this made Scourge feel. She tried reaching out to him through the Force, but he must've felt because he made a noise between a grunt and a grimace.

"Let's not waste any time," he muttered. "You can tell that nervous little Zabrak we've done what he wanted."

"Will you try to have a better attitude?" She pulled out her holocom, sighing at Scourge. "You're ridiculously downbeat. Anyone ever tell you that before? You're all 'the galaxy is gonna end' this and 'we don't have time to do anything at all' that."

"I am a _realist_ ," he snapped. "And a pragmatist. If we make time to inquire about every dead Jedi or take the time to reflect on our feelings - " His voice held a hard, mocking tone, and she frowned - "we will be dead tomorrow."

"That's my point - so depressing. Blast, Scourge, you could at least smile. Even just once."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and she fought a grin herself - at least he wasn't so stony now. "Make the call, Jedi."

She let her smile through for a moment, and then she called Pak. He detonated the charges and told her that the ray shields were down. Now they had the privilege of taking out the heavy guns the Sith had. Joy. Her smile was gone as she faced Scourge again.

"Why do Sith have to make everything so hard?" she half-whined.

"I know many a Sith asked the same question about you Jedi."

Aurelia sighed again. "We can both be terribly ridiculous sometimes, huh? Well, we should go. We've got a legion of angry Imps and Sith just waiting to kill us." She looked up, caught his eyes, and smiled. "Should be fun."

His crimson eyes shone for just a second - or maybe she was imagining it? - and he gave a nod. "What else is new?"

"What that a joke?"

"Perhaps. Now let's go." He started back towards the speeder and Aurelia grinned, walking behind him. This really was shaping up to be an interesting experience. Who'd've thought she'd be befriending a Sith Lord - the Emperor's Wrath, for that matter? But the speeder ride to the coordinates was silent (she still wouldn't let him drive), and they hopped off a few meters away from the main reactor bunker. By her quick estimate there were five or six Imperial battle droids, more than a dozen Sith, and a lot of Imperial soldiers. Not impossible to break through, just damn hard. And she guessed the inside was much the same.

She took a deep breath as they crouched behind a snowbank. "I say we just go for it. They're spread far enough apart that we won't have more than four, maybe five of them on us at once - and we can take them."

Scourge nodded. "I can take any soldiers and battle droids while you go after the Sith."

"What if I wanted to take the battle droids and soldiers?"

"Go right ahead, Jedi. I only assumed you'd rather fight someone that closer matched your own skill set."

She'd like to, she thought as they moved away from the snowbank, igniting their lightsabers. But she wasn't sure if she could by herself anymore. Stars, she used to be so sure of herself. She used to rush into battle with hardly a thought, knowing full well she could take on anything that was thrown at her. Now she was afraid to go up against a few Imperial soldiers. Blasted Emperor. She watched as Scourge rushed forward, engaging with a nearby Sith. He moved with such skill and determination, and she could feel him calling on his anger, channeling it into his attacks. He fed off the dread and rage in his opponents, too, becoming an even greater force to be reckoned with. Not only that, he was insanely adept in lightsaber combat. He used an older form she hadn't seen before - a lot like Ataru, but not as refined. Probably something he picked up three hundred years ago.

"What are you waiting for?!" he called out to her as he struck the Sith down. "Fight!"

She used the Force to leap to a close group of Imperial soldiers, using her favored Juyo form to inflict as much damage as she could. And any thoughts of Scourge or the Emperor or the impending doom they all faced was gone as she fought. She cut down any soldier, battle droid, or Sith that got in her way without a problem, and she used a mix of her own fear, anger, and serenity, slowly letting out all of her pent-up emotions. She and Scourge fought to the front of the base, not stopping until every last opponent was defeated. Then Aurelia doubled over, hands on her knees, panting softly. She hadn't fought like that in a long time.

Scourge de-ignited his saber and returned it to his hip. "Come on. We cannot stop."

They made their way through the main reactor base, taking out anyone that dared oppose them. Then they ended up in a large, open room with a computer pressed back against a wall. Before it stood a tall, pureblooded Sith woman in full Imperial military garb. She turned to face Scourge and Aurelia as they entered.

Her name was Colonel Hareth. As it turned out she was Executor Krannus's lover and she tried and tried to convince Aurelia to rejoin 'their' side. Not only that, but she was an Emperor fangirl. Nothing Aurelia said persuaded her against him, and then she admitted this was all a distraction so that Krannus could get his mission done. And then she attacked.

She was a tough opponent, and both Scourge and Aurelia fought with everything they had, even up against the soldiers and probe droids she called on to aid her ( _cheater_ , Aurelia thought miserably as she threw one saber, watching it arc around and strike three soldiers as it was drawn back to her hand). They were so close, as Aurelia deflected blaster bolts, Scourge impaling a soldier with his crimson saber; she could feel Hareth's resolve breaking and then _kriff - stars -_ one of her blaster bolts struck Aurelia in the leg, tearing right through her leggings. She'd been so preoccupied with protecting her head that she'd left her legs wide open and she gritted her teeth against the burning pain, her leg trembling. The soldier a few meters in front of her took a chance and let out a volley of bolts. She deflected most of them but one hit her shoulder, just between her armor plates, and the other caught her in the side of her stomach. She went down, the pain white hot and burning and her chest heaved as she tried to breathe.

 _How - how did this happen?_

Then Scourge did something curious. He sort of growled in the back of his throat and with a quick slash of his saber the soldier fell, dead. In the same second Scourge leapt to deliver a fatal, crushing blow to Hareth's middle. Her flame-colored eyes grew wide as the red saber protruded from her back. In her pain, Aurelia barely registered what was happening, even as she tried to focus on the Code to calm her, but she felt her body stiffen in fear. He was the Emperor's own executioner - he must've killed hundreds of Jedi and Sith alike - and she knew that, she did. But seeing him like that, feeling the raw anger rolling off of him, watching Hareth's lifeless body crumple to the floor as he de-ignited his saber… it scared her. His hard, red face turned to her and it softened fractionally.

"Why did you let them hit you?" he half-snarled, rushing to her.

She barked out a short, wry laugh and the pain in her stomach flared up, and the laugh turned into a pained wince. "I wasn't having enough fun."

He scowled, kneeling beside her. "Can you walk?"

"Probably but _blast_ , it hurts." She stood up on wobbly legs, holding her arm across her stomach. "Guess I need new armor."

"What you _need_ is to be more careful, Aurelia." He slipped off one of his gauntlets and examined her wounds, his fingers startlingly cool on her stinging skin. And underneath his firm voice she could detect something that resembled caring and she smirked.

"Aw, are you worried about my well-being?" she teased, holding back a gasp as his fingers touched the laceration on her stomach. The blaster bolt there had, at almost point-blank range, cut right through her armor. She _did_ need to be more careful.

"Only for the sake of the galaxy," he retorted. "If you perish, we all will."

Aurelia sighed, anger pricking her skin. "I'm sick of hearing that. Why can't you do it?"

"Your face is the one I saw - it must be you. Now hold still."

"Wait why? What are you - ow, that _hurts_!" She winced as he worked on healing her through the Force. Her skin knit back together slowly, agonizingly, and _why_ did it hurt so much? Whenever Kira healed her it didn't feel like this. But Kira never used the Dark Side to do it. He'd started with her shoulder and then went to her stomach - she'd been unable to hold back a groan at that one; it was deep, deeper than a blaster bolt wound probably should've been. Then he was kneeling before her, his hand hovering over her upper thigh. This one hurt the least amount but why in the _Void_ did this situation make her feel so… weird? She couldn't place it, didn't recognize it, and called on the Code to help lessen the pain. Then it was over, and Scourge straightened up.

"There," he said quietly. "Now, you should let that Zabrak know that we've not found Krannus yet."

"Yeah, I guess." She reached for her holocom and it started beeping. She frowned at Scourge before accepting the call.

"It's a shame about Hareth," Executor Krannus said with a smirk. "But she will receive a place of honor when the Emperor grants us eternal life."

Aurelia scowled. How did he get this frequency? "You've been brainwashed," she half-snarled. "The Emperor has filled your head with false promises so you'll throw your lives away for him."

"I may not feel the Force as you do, Jedi, but I do know its power transcends death. Now, this delay has cost you. You cannot stop what is to come. The Emperor's will is inevitable." He ended the transmission suddenly and Aurelia sighed, shaking her head. This was not turning out well.


	4. Chapter 4: Belsavis, Part Two

**Chapter Four: Belsavis, Part Two**

They found out, from Pak, that Krannus was after a doctor named Gantrell and they weren't really sure why. But they had his coordinates and they were halfway there when Aurelia's speeder malfunctioned. They were barely able to get off it before the engine exploded, leaving them effectively stranded in the middle of the maximum security section of Belsavis. Aurelia kicked the dead speeder with a muttered, "Kriff!" and stepped back, hands on her hips.

"This is just great." She looked at Scourge who stood a few feet away, his crimson eyes burning into her. "Do you have any ideas?"

"We walk."

"Walk? The doctor is hundreds of klicks away from where we are right now. I am not walking all the way there."

"Then we are destroyed."

Aurelia groaned slightly, and she looked up at the sky. "It's getting dark. Something about being on this planet after the sun sets rubs me the wrong way - oh yeah, maybe because it's a prison planet!"

Scourge only smirked at her. "Between us, Jedi, we have three lightsabers."

"Yeah, and I'm tired. Do we have time to sleep, Lord The-World-Is-Ending?"

"I suppose so." He glanced around them. "We have no shelter, however."

She sighed and looked around too. They were in a shaded glen, the minimum security cells looming in the distance. The Rattataki were spread out nearby, the Esh-Ka several kilos in the other direction, lurkers hugging any source of water. And then Aurelia noticed a cave a short ways away, and she looked to Scourge.

"Over there," she pointed. "It's probably got lurkers but we can clear it out."

He nodded. "Then let's go."

She followed after him, eyes wandering across the sky as it grew darker. Aurelia had been on many different planets and seen many different sunsets, but the beauty in them never ceased to amaze her (Tatooine sunsets were her favorites, though). So she stopped a few meters from the cave, watching as Belsavis' two suns set below the mountain line, and she felt a smile on her face. Gods, it was so beautiful. And for a moment, she was able to forget; forget that she was chasing a murderous Imp across this barren prison planet; forget that if she didn't succeed here the entire galaxy was screwed beyond belief.

"Why have you stopped?" Scourge asked softly, bringing her back to reality.

She caught his eyes for a moment. "Look at that sunset - it's beautiful."

He nodded once, not even looking away from her. "We mustn't delay. Come."

She sighed softly, and they entered the cave, lightsabers drawn. After taking out the few lurkers inside they settled in towards the back, and Aurelia laid down on a softer patch of ground, using the unarmored parts of her chestguard as a pillow. Scourge sat a few meters away, looking anywhere but at her. She could feel some discomfort on his part and she sighed slightly.

"What, half-naked women make you uncomfortable?" she teased, though she wasn't necessarily half-naked - underneath her chestguard she always wore an undershirt and her leggings were still on, though she'd kicked off her boots.

Scourge scoffed anyway, dismissing the question with a slight wave of his hand. He had yet to settle down for sleep, and she frowned.

"You… are you going to sleep?" she asked quietly.

"Even if I could, I would not. One of us ought to keep watch."

"Wait, you can't sleep?"

"I am immortal," he said, as if it were the only way to explain it. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "I do not feel exhaustion the way you do, and my body does not gain anything advantageous from sleep. I can sleep but I simply choose not to, as I do not need to."

"Hmm." She watched as he stood up, gathering rocks and pieces of wood. "Do you dream when you sleep?"

Scourge stopped for a moment, his back to her, and he didn't speak. Finally, he murmured, "Yes."

"Is that why you don't sleep? Because you don't like dreaming?"

"You ask far too many questions, Jedi."

"Only because you deflect all of them."

"Perhaps, then, you should learn to stop asking questions." He dumped the rocks and wood he'd collected in a pile not far from her. A simple bolt of lightning from his fingertips ignited them and Aurelia scooted closer to the fire, feeling its warmth.

"You know, I've had that speeder since I was fourteen," she said quietly. "I got it on Nar Shaddaa before I was recruited into the Order."

"It was an Imperial model," he noted as he stoked the fire, adding a few more sticks and foliage.

She grinned cheekily. "I stole it from some soldier. But, stars, it's given me so many problems over the years. Kira and I got stranded on Tatooine because it broke down, and we had to wait for Teeseven to save us." Her smile widened at the memory, Kira ranting and raving in the heat, them fighting off a pack of womp rats. "But that's the last time I steal anything from the Imps."

Scourge wore a smile - an actual smile. A small one, honestly, but a smile nonetheless. It was curious, and seemed out of place on his otherwise stony face. "You know, your people speaking of the Empire sound like a distorted echo."

"Is that right?" Aurelia sat up, pulling her long dark locks from the bun, brushing it out with her fingers.

"When I was born, we thought the rest of the galaxy to be mystery and legend," he said. "We had been alone for a thousand years."

"What was it like?" she murmured, looking at him, catching his bright eyes over the fire. "I can't even imagine."

"We were what you made us."

She raised an eyebrow.

"In my youth, Jedi were how you threatened errant children. 'Obey your masters or the Jedi will obliterate you'."

"I remember," she murmured. "Not much changed in the Sith in three centuries."

Scourge nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "For thousands of years, we had total control of a hundred star systems. Then the Jedi drove us to the farthest fringe of the galaxy."

"Yeah, I remember that propaganda too." Aurelia gave him a teasing smile. "But you're in Republic space, now. That's skirting dangerous ground, talking like that."

"This is hardly worth debating," he scowled. "I gain nothing from understanding how your Republic's fools view the galaxy."

"But I have to listen to you talk about the old Empire?"

He didn't answer her question - he hardly ever did. Instead he said, "I'm surprised that once your Council finishes its brainwashing, any Jedi has a spine left to oppose the Emperor." He smirked. "Perhaps you are still young enough to finish your training and cultivate the strength of the Sith."

She snorted. "You know, Revan, the Exile and I were all Jedi-trained. We all resisted the Emperor. Last time I checked, the Sith hadn't done that."

"That was… a surprise," he conceded. "In three centuries, I expected to see one test his strength against the Dark Lord. But those strong enough to challenge him are killed young, or co-opted into the Dark Council." Then he sighed. "Perhaps you're right. Jedi strengths are different… not necessarily lesser."

Aurelia held back her grin. "Well, thank you."

He nodded once. "Now, you need to rest. I cannot have you collapsing on the mission tomorrow."

She nodded too and laid back down, pulling her legs up, wishing she was in her bed on the ship, burrowed in her heavy blankets, that super-soft pillow she'd picked up on Alderaan under her head. Sighing softly, her eyes found Scourge and she watched the flames flickering across his red skin, the distant look in his eyes. "What are you thinking about?" she murmured.

"Nothing," he responded almost immediately. "Go to sleep."

"Oh fine." She closed her eyes and moved a little bit, curling up as best she could. And then, within minutes, she fell asleep.

Scourge watched her for a moment, the cave silent except for the crackling of the fire and the soft sound of her breathing. She looked peaceful in sleep, several years younger (out of sleep she looked older than her twenty-one), and he sighed softly. He had never met a Jedi like her before, one that had piqued his interest; one that fascinated him. She was so different, so unpredictable, and he did not understand why he was so interested in her.

That morning they went on to the doctor's coordinates. Hopefully everything was okay - though Aurelia knew that was a stretch. Nothing was ever 'okay'. And sure enough, to get to the good doctor, they had to battle through a regular army of fanatic Imps, even a couple of trained Jedi killers - those were always fun. Then they reached a large, open room with a few Imperial officers and several older men in white coats, most of them on their knees, blasters at the backs of their heads. Aurelia kept one lightsaber ignited, refusing to take any chances. The officer in charge started prattling on about the Emperor's glory (the same junk she'd heard from Colonel Hareth) despite Aurelia's best efforts to convince him otherwise. She found out the men in white coats were scientists, and that Doctor Gantrell wasn't actually there. And then the Imperials executed a few of the scientists.

Aurelia attacked, anger flowing through her veins. She and Scourge slaughtered the officers, and she couldn't believe them. Killing innocent, defenseless men like that? That was cowardice. It was the thing she'd hated the most about the Sith and the Empire, and even after they lay at her feet, dead, she still seethed in anger. Scourge's curious gaze scorched her but she didn't look at him. She took a deep breath, there is no emotion, there is peace, and another one, and deactivated her lightsaber. Then she approached the scientists, anger fading into worry.

One of them spoke in a trembling spoke. "If you hadn't come here… we owe you our lives."

Her holocom rang out of nowhere and she answered it to an excited Pak Taldine. "That was amazing!" he crowed. "Outnumbered, outgunned - but those Imperials never stood a chance!"

"How did you see all that?" she asked.

"The security holo," and he sounded a little smug. "Saw the whole thing. Pretty incredible - and I've seen a lot of good fights."

"Thank you, but I don't need compliments. I need to know where Executor Krannus went."

The red son of a mynock had taken Doctor Gantrell with him, it turned out - but not before carving out the tracking chip embedded in his skin. Aurelia's almost-empty stomach churned at hearing this and she shook her head. "What kind of monster butchers a helpless prisoner like that?" Another reason she'd hated the Sith - their mindless cruelty.

Scourge stepped in, reminding her, "Torturing a prisoner is nothing to someone who would exterminate entire worlds."

That was true. But still… She shivered.

The scientist told her that Krannus had taken the doctor to help unlock the prison's lower levels; that Gantrell would be able to get the key. And then he told her about some prototype weapons they'd been creating, and it took almost all of Aurelia's self control to not groan dramatically. First it'd been the Planet Prison. Then the Power Guard. Then the Desolator weapon. Now there were warfare prototypes with both Republic and alien technology, and they were hidden in a vault near the main Republic base? Stars, this just kept getting better. The scientist asked if she could make sure the prisoners didn't get to them and she sighed. Scourge wouldn't like this.

"Well, I could probably spare a few minutes to keep deadly weapons out of criminal hands," she said softly, and she heard Scourge scoff.

Predictable.

"You'll be saving thousands of lives!" Pak added.

"Those lives are meaningless," Scourge said. "Stopping Krannus is all that matters."

"But - you're a Jedi." Pak sounded desperate, and she hated making decisions like this. "You can't turn your back on this!"

She looked from Scourge's hard red eyes to Pak's almost hopeless blue figure to the guilty looking scientist, and she cursed under her breath. They were all right - it was her obligation but if it meant Krannus could have time to carry out his plan... "I'm sorry," she said softly, after a few moments of thought. "I can't put the entire galaxy at risk."

Pak sighed, but nodded. "I'll deal with it myself, then. You just focus on getting to the vault and saving Doctor Gantrell."

Thank the stars, there was a Republic outpost nearby so Aurelia and Scourge didn't have to walk far. It was midmorning now as they hopped onto a speeder, yet it was still so damn cold. Aurelia shivered again as the crisp wind whipped around them, and she had to close her eyes against it. Ugh. If she could help it, she was never coming back to Belsavis after this. As they touched down at another outpost Krannus called on her holo. He was haughty and pompous as usual - and he told her that officers of his were planning to blow up kriffing volcanoes to slow her down. He said, quite honestly, that she couldn't afford to ignore this 'distraction' so she and Scourge reluctantly went to take care of it.

"Why does Krannus have to be such a coward?" she asked as she diffused the last of the bombs, turning to find Scourge striking a shooting Imp soldier across the chest with his lightsaber. "Why can't he just face me himself?"

"Is that rhetorical, or would you like a response?" He de-ignited his saber and looked to her.

She sighed and grumbled, "Rhetorical, I guess."

"Right." He nodded in the direction of the large, imposing building a few meters away. The maximum security wing. "We should go."

They fought through more fanatic Imps as they made their way through one of the cell blocks - and at the end of it they found a massive beast. It was a few feet taller than even Scourge and it was poised above a small, older man, and something told Aurelia this was the doctor she'd been searching for. Finally. She and Scourge took down the creature with hardly any effort, and then she knelt before the old man.

"Doctor Gantrell, I hope," she said softly.

"You arrived just in time! That beast was about to eat me alive."

She helped him up and after reaching through the Force to make sure he would be okay she said, "I've got to stop the Imperials. Where did they go?"

"Krannus took the key to the prison's power core!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "He intends to destroy it! Do you have any idea what that means?"

No. That's not why I've been chasing that red bastard across this godforsaken planet. Instead Aurelia said, "I'm not going to let him reach the core."

"The power core derives energy from hyperspace itself," the doctor said. "A detonation will send shockwaves at light speed - Belsavis would only be the beginning! Trillions will die!"

Of course. Because any destruction plan isn't complete without the senseless annihilation of obscene amounts of people. "Krannus can't be too far ahead; I'll stop him before he reaches the core." Then the good doctor asked her to lock him in a cell till reinforcements could arrive. And she wanted to; she almost felt bad for him. "Stopping Krannus is the only thing that matters," she said.

"You're a Jedi! You can't just leave me here to die!"

What is with all this 'you're a Jedi!' stuff lately? Why don't we leave emotional manipulation to the Sith?

"Fine," she sighed, her voice flat. "Follow me. Let's make this quick."

"You cannot be serious," Scourge hissed.

"It'll take two seconds. Relax."

It was more like two minutes, and the more time it took the angrier Scourge became. Aurelia could almost feel it without the Force. He huffed and scowled and paced, arms folded across his chest. Once the doctor was locked in Aurelia turned to her incensed companion.

"Oh my stars, Scourge, try calming the hell down, please." She shook her head. "Let's go, then, if you're going to continue to be passive-aggressive about it."

He made a face. "You're going to be the death of me, Jedi."

"Is that a promise?"

Scourge glared at her with harsh, fiery eyes, and a part of her almost hated how much fun it was to get him this worked up. "Enough. Let's go."

Aurelia stifled a giggle.


	5. Chapter 5: Belsavis, Part Three

I hate Belsavis but somehow it got three chapters in this fic.

*sigh*

But it's almost over. I promise.

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Belsavis, Part Three**

They traveled to the deepest part of the prison to find the Rakata power core, and Krannus. It also happened to be the freezing-est part of Belsavis and Aurelia couldn't stop shivering. Gutting the occasional enemy helped a little bit, taking her mind off of the numbing cold all around her, and then soon they were inside the block that housed the power core, and Aurelia could stay still ("Your skin is turning a peculiar shade of blue," Scourge remarked as they'd entered. "More blue than a human could be, I thought"). She scowled at him, and they fought their way to Executor Krannus, finally finding him stalking in front of the power core, several soldiers and officers flanking him. Yippee. With a sharp wave of his hand he ordered his troops to surround her and Scourge and she sighed.

 _Really?_

The soldiers waved them forward and as she stood mere meters from Krannus's arrogant, crimson face there were more than ten blasters pointed in hers.

"You're too late," Krannus said smugly. "The detonite charges are in place - even _you_ wouldn't be able to stop them all in time."

Aurelia shook her head. This guy needed to be taken down a notch. "All your tricks and distractions can't stop me, Krannus. I'm ending this!"

"We're all going to die here. The difference is," he smirked, "I will live again."

She glanced at the soldiers to her right and at the soldiers to her left. Then Aurelia grabbed her lightsaber, igniting it. If she was going to die, she was going to go out swinging. A gas grenade was suddenly thrown between her and the Imps and she turned to find a squad or two of Republic troops scurry in, blasters drawn. A Duros - _sergeant? Captain?_ \- stood beside her, hands clutched behind his back.

"Imperials!" he said. "Surrender to this Jedi Knight immediately! Drop your weapons." He looked at her then. "Republic Special Forces. Sorry to show up late."

Reinforcements. Yes! "Eh, better late than never." She smirked briefly before turning back to Krannus. "It's over," she said to him. "Don't be a fool - surrender."

He didn't. Of course not. As the fighting began Aurelia was able to sneak away to disable the charges he'd set up around the power core. She moved quickly, trying to tune out the harsh sounds of blaster bolts and Scourge's saber and the strange, underlying worry of _is he going to be okay?_

 _He's the Emperor's Wrath. He can handle himself._

 _But what if he can't? Sometimes all it takes is a lucky shot - kriff, earlier, with the colonel, was proof of this._

 _Why do you care so much?_

She tried to chalk it up to the simple fact that he was her companion and that if he didn't survive they were screwed with this whole the-crazy-Sith-Emperor-is-trying-to-end-life-as-we-know-it thing. But something deep in the back of her mind insisted it was something else and she sighed, working to take out the last detonite charge. She wasn't sure why she felt this way but she had an idea. And she didn't like it.

 _And you don't have time for this!_

"You will not survive this, Jedi."

Her fingers stumbled across the charge and she cursed, rising to face Krannus. He was battleworn, blood and bruises littering his crimson face, and he glowered at her. "You know, I've met a lot of Sith and Imps - and I mean a _lot_ \- and you're probably the most arrogant one yet." She ignited her saber. "And that isn't a compliment."

His smirk was short-lived. Aurelia fought hard, a part of her wanting to take him down now out of sheer spite. Then he struck her a couple times in the shoulder with some blaster bolts and she defeated him out of pure anger, throwing herself at him with a reckless rage she hadn't felt since her Padawan days and striking his chest with one saber. As he went down she saw Scourge rushing towards her, a strange look in his fiery eyes. He could probably feel her - angry, with a mix of irritation and pride because _finally_ that pain in the ass was dead. But he didn't mention it.

"Have you disabled all the charges?" he asked, his voice almost breathless.

She couldn't hear any more blaster bolts, and she shook her head before turning back to the last charge. "I got distracted."

"I see that."

"Did we win?" Aurelia made quick work of the detonite, her fingers nimble and fast.

"Yes, and the Sergeant wishes to speak with you once you finish."

She nodded and rose, all the charges disabled now, catching his eyes - and that odd look in them. "What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?"

He waved a hand, dismissing her question. "The Sergeant?"

Aurelia sighed and started up the nearby stairs. When the hell was Scourge going to stop being so vague? It drove her crazy. He was almost as bad as Master Orgus had been. She pushed these thoughts from her mind as the Duros sergeant informed her that some Republic colonel wanted to talk to her about Pak. Weird, but okay. The sergeant let her and Scourge borrow a speeder they brought and as they ventured back out into the cold Aurelia realized it was almost dusk again. And she realized she was thoroughly and utterly exhausted. But she still didn't let Scourge drive.

* * *

The moon was shining by the time they made it back to the main Republic base, and to the colonel. Her name was Bartaph and she looked in her early forties, with greying black hair and a few wrinkles. Personally, Aurelia was a bit pleased to see a woman that high up in the military - there ought to be more - and she smiled.

"You wanted to see me?"

Bartaph thanked her for everything she'd done to save Belsavis - and while it was nice, Aurelia knew it was a prelude to a _but_. And that _but_ was Pak Taldine. He walked into the tent, flanked by a couple of armed troopers, and Aurelia frowned.

"My forces apprehended this prisoner during the riots," Bartaph said. "I need to know why one of the galaxy's worst criminals was helping you."

Um. What?

Beside her, Scourge folded his arms across his chest, and they shared a look. Seemed he had no idea, either.

"All due respect, Colonel," Aurelia said, "but what are you talking about? Pak's a guard, not an inmate."

"It's true," he sighed. "I came here ten years ago as a prisoner - and I deserved it." He left it at that.

She frowned at him. "And, what, you were just never going to bring it up?"

"You never asked."

Scourge scoffed.

"But, being here on Belsavis - surrounded by scum just like me - it opened my eyes. Even if I could never leave here, I could still change. It took years, but I did it." He half-smiled. "The warden made me an honorary guard. Said I earned that."

She could feel the truth of his words, even if there was no tangible evidence to back it up - and he had been a huge help during her time on that awful planet. So when the colonel asked her what they should do with him she didn't even have to think about it.

"Let him go," she said and next to her Scourge made a noise. "He's telling the truth, and besides - I couldn't have done anything without him."

He looked at her with soft, brown eyes. "Thank you, Jedi," he murmured.

She nodded.

* * *

"He was a prisoner for good reason - why did you let him go?"

They were almost to the airlock when Scourge asked, and she was proud of him - it must've taken a lot of restraint not to demand to know the moment Pak was gone. Aurelia looked at him as they walked. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

He gave her a sideways glare - he wasn't going to let this go.

She sighed. "He was a good man, Scourge. He helped us, and I returned the favor. It's called honor. Jedi have that, you know."

"As do Sith."

She almost burst out laughing at that. "Not the ones I've met."

"I will admit, it is a trait that seems to be vanishing in our order."

"Did we just agree on something?"

He scowled slightly but didn't respond. Instead he noted, quietly, "You killed Krannus. Murdered him. You were - "

"I didn't murder him. He was armed - and I gave him the chance to surrender."

"Fine. Nevertheless you killed him - and out of anger. You were incensed. I could feel it…" He stopped and looked down at her ( _kriff, he's so tall_ ), his eyes curious, questioning. But he didn't ask it.

Aurelia sighed heavily. "I've never been good at the whole self-control thing. I mean, I straight up _murdered_ the Sith that killed my master. And I know Jedi aren't supposed to be like that. But I just… some people deserve to die. Simple as that."

"And Krannus was one of those?"

"He was going to kill us all. He used the threat of him blowing up volcanoes and killing millions of people to stop me from getting to him. He was a bad guy." She raised an eyebrow. "Why? You would've kept him alive?"

"Oh no. I would not have even let him surrender."

Figures.

"I bring it up, however, because you intrigue me, Jedi. You are unlike any other I've met - Revan excluded, of course."

"You'll be my best friend if you keep comparing me to Revan."

Scourge frowned, and it made Aurelia smile. But she fought it back.

"I'm sorry - finish what you were saying."

He shook his head once. "That was all."

Aurelia looked at him. "You're - different from most Sith I've met," she murmured, hating that she was admitting this.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, but only a little different. There's still the whole thing of you, you know, preferring killing people to letting them live."

"I let you live."

"What, on Quesh? I'd just taken out a whole battalion of Imp soldiers and Sith - you were scared, too scared to take me on."

"Do not make me laugh, Jedi." But his eyes lightened.

She grinned, resisting the urge to ask if he even could laugh, and she took a step closer. "Oh come on. You know I could totally beat you in battle."

"Is that right?"

"Oh yeah."

He regarded her for a moment, his eyes reading her face. Then, "You are a strange one, Jedi."

"Strange in a good way?"

Scourge nodded, and then he started for the ship. She watched him for a moment. Sometimes he could actually be pleasant. It was… nice.

* * *

After greeting her other companions and insisting that _no, Doc the blaster wound in my shoulder is not life-threatening_ Aurelia contacted Master Satele on the holo, informing her that Belsavis was safe. And then, per usual fashion, Satele told her that another awful thing had happened that required her assistance. Jomar Chul had disappeared investigating an Imperial space station where, so it was rumored, many high-ranking Sith had gathered to meet - and on the Emperor's orders.

"I know you and Jomar have had your differences, but I believe he's onto something," she said.

Differences? The jerk had had the audacity to question her loyalty to the Jedi Order and maintained that she would fall to the Emperor (which she had, but the horned son of a Bantha made it sound like she would do it of her own accord). He was definitely not high up on her list of favorite fellow Jedi. "After the accusations he made to the Council, I doubt he'd be willing to help me - assuming he's alive."

"My only concern is uncovering the Emperor's plans," Satele responded, ever the neutral party. "We need to know what's happening on that station."

"This is worth pursuing," Scourge agreed.

Satele seemed please. "I'm transmitting coordinates to the space station. However I have no advice for getting inside."

"Leave that to me," Scourge said, and he couldn't have made that sound less threatening if he tried.

"May the Force be with you," and with that, Satele's blue figure flickered, and was gone.

"Remind me when this is over to log in a couple years of vacation time," Aurelia said, rubbing a hand down her tired face.

"You and me both," Kira said. "Now, though, you should focus on resting. The coordinates Master Satele sent through are in the unknown regions, so it'll be awhile before we get there."

"Yeah, you don't look so good, beautiful," Doc murmured. "I mean, you always look good but now you just look… dead."

She nodded, sighing. "I feel like it." She turned her eyes to Scourge, who was brooding a few meters away. "You should get some sleep, too. You've been going, going, going as long as I have."

He waved her words away with his hand. "I am immortal. Sleep eludes me."

"Must be nice," Kira grumbled.

"Well, either way, you should rest up in whatever way that means for you." She gave him a soft smile. "It's probably not a good idea to infiltrate an Imperial space station half-dead."

He gave her a curt nod, and she sighed, dropping her eyes as she started towards her quarters. Sleep would probably elude her now, too, but for different reasons.

"I should probably check out that blaster wound."

Aurelia turned around just short of her quarters to find Doc a few meters away, leaning against the wall with a lazy smirk on his lips. "Is that Doc talking or the doctor?"

"Both." He straightened up and started towards her. "Come down to the medbay, baby. I missed you."

She smiled as he took her in his arms and she kissed him softly. "I need to sleep."

"Not yet you don't."

It was the first time they'd had sex in her bed - usually they reserved themselves to staying in the medbay. And it was the first time Doc had fallen asleep next to her. But, like she'd predicted, Aurelia couldn't sleep. Her mind was too wired. Even with Doc beside her she thought about Scourge. Not like _that_ … but he fascinated her. He'd lived through and seen so much and she wanted nothing more than to pull up a chair next to him and let him tell her everything (and she wanted to hear him compare her to Revan and the Exile some more). He'd spent centuries searching for a way to finally end the Emperor; spent centuries searching for _her_ \- and then he fully and completely renounced the Empire, giving up everything he'd ever known to pledge his loyalty to her. No one had ever done that for her before (though, she had to admit, he was doing it for the greater good and not necessarily for _her_ ). And he wasn't a typical Sith. She wanted to know why he was different. She wanted to know why he never smiled or laughed. She wanted to know if he had any friends in his old Empire or if he had any regrets… she wanted to know everything.

Aurelia turned from Doc with a soft sigh, his arm slung over her abdomen. If she was being honest she was probably a little bit, slightly attracted to Scourge, too. He was beautiful, in his own Sith-y way, and he was warm and strong (and his hands had felt really nice on her stomach whenever he sat behind her on the speeders)… ugh, this was not good. Not good at all. And as she lay in bed sleepless she couldn't help but wonder what Scourge thought of her. Was he so tense around her because he couldn't stand her - or because he felt something?

 _You know better than to dwell on that sort of thing._

She did. But she couldn't help it.

Sleep never found her.


	6. Chapter 6: Repercussions

**So this chapter is the first of a few canon-divergent storylines, and mostly just me wanting all my lovely little smols to interact. Not only that, I was giving some thought into how would the Empire react after the Wrath defects and commits treason? And this was the result.**

 **(Sorry it's so short.)**  
 **(Also, bounty hunter storyline spoilers.)**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Repercussions**

 _Dromund Kaas_

Darth Marr had always preferred his office in the Sith Sanctum to the one on Korriban. Perhaps it was simply an overall preference to Dromund Kaas; he liked the rain. And at least on Dromund Kaas he did not find sand in odd crevices in his armor, and he was not surrounded by insolent acolytes and their obsequious overseers. Though, at least on Korriban he felt slightly removed from Sith politics. And, hardly a year into the War now, there were many. Barely more than a month ago Darth Baras had betrayed and killed his long-time apprentice (though there were whispers through the galaxy that she was not, after all, dead and was actively pursuing her former master's demise) around the same time that Darth Thanaton's private library had been invaded by an up-and-coming Lord, one of the slave inquisitors from Korriban, and now the two were locked in a passive-aggressive power struggle. Not only that, but there was already talk of dismantling Imperial Intelligence (the organization's latest operations had grown more enigmatic and there were certain Dark Councilors who were not so keen on such secrecy in the Empire) and the Mandalorians had grown even more restless than usual after three bounty hunters were murdered by Republic agents on Nar Shaddaa. Every day it seemed as if his Empire was crumbling around him, and more and more Marr wished to simply escape and not address the issues plaguing it. It was then that Korriban became a welcome respite.

But he could not return to Korriban now. No, there was work to be done.

It had been near two weeks since the Emperor's Wrath had defected and betrayed the Empire, joined the Jedi. At Marr's behest the Council tried desperately to cover up the 'incident' initially but it hadn't taken long before news reached the public. He remembered yesterday's holo-newscasts, discussing the Sith-turned-Jedi-turned-Sith-turned-Jedi and how she had seduced Scourge (the stories were intentionally sparse on details on if the said seduction had been mental or physical) into rejecting the Dark Side and the Empire, aligning with the Republic. They made her into anti-Republic propaganda, when only weeks before she had been the Empire's shining glory, the prodigal daughter returned to them. The situation only added to Marr's constant stress and he stalked through the Sanctum with more fierceness than he intended. He was due to meet one of those restless Mandalorians in his office, to see if she could… handle the Scourge issue.

A sigh escaped his lips as he entered his office, and the door slid shut behind him. He was sending a mercenary after the Emperor's Wrath. If she was successful (and that was highly unlikely, even with her skills) what would they do with Scourge? Execute him for his betrayal? Force him to spy on the Jedi? Imprison him for the rest of his days? It was such a delicate situation and Marr wasn't certain on how to proceed. But he had the Dark Council fussing over it, and the public demanding something be done. So he was getting something done.

The door slid open and in walked a tall, yellow Twi'lek woman with blueish Mandalorian armor, twin blasters on her hips, and an impish smile. Behind her stood an equally tall blonde young man, yet he was more serious than the Twi'lek. Her smirk turned into a grin and she stepped forward, hands on her hips. "Hey there, Marr," she said, his name rolling off her tongue like honey, and he sighed.

"Grand Champion."

She gave a soft laugh. "That's old news, Darthy. I go by Republic's Most Wanted now. It's got a better ring to it."

Marr bit back another sigh. This Twi'lek, the Empire's foremost mercenary, was infamous for her snarky, teasing attitude, especially to high-up Sith and Imperials, and Marr knew it would only be a matter of time before her disposition got to him. But, he reminded himself with a sigh, nothing good could come from killing her for her insubordination - not now, at least. He needed her. "I see."

"But you can call me Mala."

He gave a curt nod. "I am aware Darth Tormen contacted you a few weeks ago, regarding the incident on Nar Shaddaa."

She sighed wearily. "We just got back from Belsavis, hunting some bigshot smuggler Tormen said we needed out. This blasted Houk kept getting in my way and it took weeks ."

"I see."

Her blue eyes found his with a mischievous gleam and the smirk returned. "But I'm guessing you don't particularly care, right?"

"Indeed."

"All righty." She perched herself on the edge of his desk, even after his audible sigh. "So who's the target?"

Marr waited a moment to reply, choosing his words carefully. "You are not familiar with neutralizing targets quietly."

"Depends on the price."

"Oh, you will be rewarded handsomely. If you succeed."

"Now I'm intrigued. So who is it?"

He sighed slightly. "This information and the situation surrounding it is precarious. You must apprehend your target with caution."

"Caution?"

"You cannot barge in and just shoot everything."

"Hey, you're payin'. Whatever you want, boss."

"Good. And you may only inform those you have to."

"Holy Void," Mala said. "This is getting crazy. Who is this guy?"

Marr brought up a holopicture of Scourge and heard the mercenary laugh softly.

"So the Sith can't control their own, and they have to hire me to clean up their mess." She looked back at her companion with a grin, a soft laugh in her voice. "Should we feel honored, Torian?"

Marr sighed heavily. "I will admit - your skills are next to none. But if you do not succeed - "

"Lemme guess - you'll kill me."

"Precisely."

"Well, no worries then." She stood to her full height with a smirk. "I never fail."

"I will contact you with further instructions. And I assume it goes without saying but this is far more important than Tormen's task."

She shrugged. "Meh, I never liked Tormen anyway." And then she left a few minutes later, left Marr to the peace and quiet of his office. After ensuring the door was locked he removed his mask and sighed heavily, running his hand down his face. He was nearing his sixty-second year and the more the days went on the more he felt it. The stress and exhaustion and old age were settling in his bones like lead. With any luck they could resolve this Scourge situation quickly and without issues.

Lately, though, Marr had not been so lucky.


	7. Chapter 7: Thoughts

**I won't be able to update for a few days after this. Sorry guys!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Thoughts**

In all the occasions he'd given thought to Aurelia, in all the times he had recalled his vision he never imagined her to be like… this. Garrulous, arrogant, impudent. She spoke candidly and brutally, and she had no interest in being a hero. She revered Revan and Meetra Surik and hated Sith and the Empire with such a passion that she struck down any that got in her way.

 _And she has engaged in a relationship with that doctor._

Scourge had felt that darkness in her even on Quesh, and it had surprised him then. Now, having spent several days with her he could admit that she only confounded him further. And he wasn't certain yet if that was good or bad. Scourge sighed as he stood in the armory, lightsaber in hand. He did not need to work to hone his skills anymore; he'd had more than three centuries to do so. But, for some unknown reason and for once in ages, he wanted to purge these thoughts of Aurelia from his mind - even only for a moment. She was all he could think about since Quesh (even more so since he had joined her crew) and he needed a moment of peace.

He sparred with a couple of holographic droids Aurelia had set up, taking them down easily. And he did this again and again until his chest heaved and exhaustion riddled his bones and his mind was cleared. Finally. Scourge leaned against the wall and closed his eyes as he caught his breath. They were close to the space station - he could feel it. And… he could feel something else…

"You okay?"

He opened his eyes to find Aurelia standing in the open doorway of the armory, dressed in a new set of armor - one he had not seen before. And though he could not necessarily see colors he could differentiate between shades - and each piece of her new armor was dark, like the last set. This had surprised him a bit upon their first meeting - she always seemed to dress like a Sith. "I'm all right," he said after a moment, realizing she was waiting for answer. "I was simply sparring with those holograms."

Aurelia regarded him for a moment with her deep eyes and then she said, "Got anything to show me?"

"You want to learn from me?" _Ignoring the fact that you already have._

"I need all the help I can get taking down the Emperor," she said. "Obviously just using my Jedi training didn't do much - maybe giving him a taste of his own medicine will."

"So, you intend to fight fire with fire?"

"I was hoping lightning with lightning."

"I cannot teach you that." Scourge eyed her for a moment. "I must admit, I'm slightly disappointed you don't remember."

"Don't remember what?"

"While you were under the Emperor's influence, I trained you."

Aurelia smiled, amused. "You, the Emperor's Wrath, taught _me_ Sith lightsaber combat?"

He nodded. "I had to ensure you would have the skills to defeat him."

"Hmm. Well, how come I don't remember it?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Her grin widened and she mimicked his pose, folding her arms. "You're sassy today."

Scourge sighed. "Well I suppose I can teach you some techniques again if you don't remember them."

"Are we talking ancient ones or ones I might've already learned at the Academy when I was eight?"

He smirked. "Neither. Ones only I employ."

Aurelia smiled. "Bring it on."

They sparred for close to an hour, and he taught her anything he could think of. She picked it up quickly, presumably from muscle memory, as he'd guessed. They worked hard and even without the influence of the dark side she proved to be quite the opponent, knocking him to his back in one smooth move, a definitive end to their sparring session. The breath left his body with a _whoomph_ and he looked up as she pinned him down, her chest heaving from breathing heavily, her face bright from exertion.

"Hi," she murmured. "Pinned you, _my lord_ ," and the words dripped with smiled sarcasm.

He made no move to get up, off put by seeing her atop him but not being able to feel her weight - and, of course, by the fact that she had been able to do this to him. "Indeed you have. Now are you going to let me up?"

"Mm, I don't know. You could probably stand to be knocked down a peg or too."

"Is that right?"

She nodded, eyes shining. "And, obviously, you're not as skilled as you think you are if I, the courageous Hero of Tython yet a lowly Jedi, was able to beat you, the fearsome Emperor's Wrath. Though, if I remember correctly, it's happened twice now."

"Is that so?" He put his hands on her forearms, heard her breath hitch in her throat. "Maybe it's time for a victory of my own, then." In one fluid motion he flipped her onto her back, effectively pinning her to the floor. She looked up at him with soft, shining eyes, a smirk on her face.

"You made your point," she said. "You can get up now."

"Perhaps I don't want to." He smirked too. "Perhaps you can stand to be knocked down a peg or two."

"Ha ha. Get up." Aurelia pushed him off her and he rose, helping her up with an outstretched hand. He watched as she smoothed down her armor and picked up her lightsaber again. "Is that all you got?" she asked, as if trying to goad him, and he could feel the lingering thrill of both combat and… _something else_ in her veins. Attraction? Desire?

 _Hmm._

"Yes," he responded to her question, returning his own lightsaber to his hip, deciding to not bring up those out of place feelings - yet. "I do not know how more to prepare you to face him," he said. "All the rest of my methods you would have learned at the Academy."

"Then maybe I should teach _you_ some things." She clipped her lightsaber back at her hip, smirking.

"I suppose it's not a terrible idea," he conceded. "All I know of Jedi ways is from Revan." He did not imagine the new smile on her face. "Surely they have changed in three hundred years."

"How does one become the Emperor's Wrath?" she blurted suddenly, and a slight blush crossed her pale cheeks. "Sorry, er, I've been wanting to ask you for a few days now."

"There has only ever been one."

"That didn't answer my question."

"You did not answer mine."

"You didn't ask one!"

He lifted an eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine. Yes, Jedi training has changed since Revan, gramps. Will you answer my question now?"

He folded his arms across his chest. So demanding and quick to irritation - very un-Jedi-like. He wanted to smile. "Perhaps another time - when you haven't insulted my age."

She made a face, but nodded. "Fine. I'm holding you to that."

"As you wish." Scourge looked down at her again (she was so small compared to him) and he wasn't sure what made him want to tell her everything. So he continued speaking. "My training as a Sith was not far different from Korriban today."

"Yeah? So what made you so special, then? Why'd his holy Sith-y-ness choose you to be his personal executioner?"

"My visions set me apart from the rest, made them bring me before the Emperor."

"So you've always had them?"

He hesitated. He'd been putting off the truth for as long as he could, knowing how much she revered Revan and Meetra Surik, and he tried to creep around it in this response. "I had my first vision the night before Revan, the Exile, and I would face off against the Emperor."

"Hmm. Do you still have them?"

"Not really, no."

Aurelia nodded and then looked down, a sudden sadness surrounding her in the Force. "I've never really had a vision before, but sometimes my old Master, er, visits me as a spirit."

"I remember when Darth Angral killed him," he said, and she winced, and the change in the air was palpable. Gone was any underlying desire or excitement from combat; she was full of sadness and bittersweet recollection. "Though at the time, I had no idea his apprentice was _you_."

She nodded again and caught his eyes. "I wonder…" She gave a short, wry laugh then, and a shake of her head. "I wonder what he would think of me now. Allied with a Sith, to take down the Emperor."

Scourge knew she was fishing for a compliment - _he would be proud of you_ , most likely - but he wasn't one to often give them. He had to say _something_ , however, so he murmured, "I don't know."

She sighed slightly. "Tell me more about Revan and the Exile," she said, and her voice was soft, full of childlike wonderment. Her face had softened too, but there was still that sadness. "Most of what I know I found in the Jedi archives but they're so frustratingly sparse, especially on Master Surik. And I can't find hardly anything on _Darth_ Revan…"

"It should not have surprised anyone that Revan turned Sith," Scourge said. "He knew you cannot fight the dark side without understanding it."

"Well I'm not going to fall."

He eyed her. "Are you claiming to be better than Revan?"

"Damn right I'm better than Revan."

Scourge let a small smile through - her pride never ceased to entertain him. "We shall see."

"Yeah, okay. And what about the Exile - Master Surik? What was she like?"

"She was… harder to read. Even with all she had done, she never trusted herself. With Revan, she was his student again."

Another soft blush painted her cheeks and she looked down, and he could feel she was a little embarrassed. "It's - it's stupid, but I always thought I was a lot like her. I don't know, maybe it was because I looked up to her but I always thought she and I had a lot in common - even though I never got to meet her."

"I would agree," Scourge said softly. "Neither of you let yourself be ruled by your Council; you are both defiant and independent, and you were both born to be leaders."

"Stop," she murmured with a grin, meeting his eyes. "I'm getting emotional."

Scourge half-smiled, half-scowled, hating what he had to say next. But it was time she knew the truth - he couldn't hide it for much longer. But he wasn't sure if that was because she would find out sooner or later or because he didn't want to keep _anything_ from her. "I liked them, Meetra and Revan. And I would have served them but my vision told me they would fail. I cut down the Exile and brought Revan to the Emperor as a gift."

She frowned deeply, taking a step back. Though whether that was subconsciously or on purpose, Scourge wasn't sure. "Wait, _you_ killed Meetra Surik?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Is… is that what you're planning to do to me?"

"If you are not the one who will stop the Emperor's madness, then I will await the one who will."

"That… that didn't answer my question. But," she sighed, "what else is new? So what happened after that?"

"I served the Emperor. It was the only way to live long enough to find the Jedi who would kill him - to find _you_ \- and I convinced him to trust me. He took my offering and gave me a place at his side. He gave me immortality. It was a gift." He sighed. "Though not without its price."

"Is that why you can't smile?"

He frowned, helping her prove her point. "I can smile, Jedi."

"Oh, you just choose not to."

The scowl he wore now did not help his case. "Enough."

"Oops, did I hit a nerve there?"

"Was there anything more you wished to discuss?" he asked a little harsher than he had intended, though the fact that she was joking with him made him hopeful that she didn't harbor any resentment after learning his truth.

Aurelia still wore a teasing smile and she just looked at him for a moment, her eyes focused on him, and he wished he could see them, really _see_ them. Green had always been his favorite color (from back when he could still see it). There'd never been any green on Korriban and he had always preferred the forests on Dromund Kaas to the city; so much vibrance and color. He watched as her smile slowly faded into something softer, more pensive, and that attraction was back. It hummed in her veins, loud and hot, and he wondered why it was directed at him. No one - not a single woman, man, human, Sith, or alien - had been attracted to him in at least two hundred years. Honestly, it left him dumbfounded. _Why?_ he wondered. It wasn't as if he was a normal man anyway - he was Sith, and the Emperor's Wrath (and just a few short weeks ago Scourge had written off her flirting with him under the Emperor's control as just that).

"What are you thinking about?" she murmured.

He opened his mouth to respond but the voice that he heard was not his own.

"Oh good, you two haven't killed each other yet."

Scourge frowned, looking behind Aurelia to find the other Jedi standing in the doorway. Perhaps he ought to start closing this door.

"Um, we're just a few minutes away from the station," Kira said softly, avoiding Scourge's eyes and finding those of her old master's. "There's some Imp security officer on the holo."

Aurelia sighed and looked up at Scourge. "Ready to work our magic?"

He followed her out to the holocommunicator, promising himself to broach the topic of her desire at a later date, and fought back both a smile and a sigh at the lie she told the security officer - " _Someone ordered sixteen tons of refresher-flushing modules; I'm here to deliver"_ \- and transmitted the clearance codes. The officer fumbled around for words for a moment, finally settling on, "We're so pleased you're here, Grand Moff. You'll find our security airtight."

"That is unlikely," Scourge muttered under his breath.

"I've, ah, cleared a docking bay for you," the officer said. "Please proceed with your landing, sir." And then his figure was gone.

"For the moment, they believe I am Grand Moff Resh," Scourge said, turning towards Aurelia. "But this ruse will not hold. Prepare to kill everyone."

"You know, Scourge, um, killing everyone might make it difficult to find out what the hell is going on."

He sighed. Damn her Jedi platitudes. "Then cripple those you think possess information. Kill the rest."

As they made their way to the airlock he heard Aurelia murmur, "Now _what_ am I gonna do with all those refresher-flushing modules?"


	8. Chapter 8: Korriban's Flame

**Chapter Eight: Korriban's Flame**

The space station was small, and docking was easy. Stepping off the ship, Aurelia saw no one in the vicinity - no Sith, no soldiers, no officers. But she could feel a presence - _two_ of them - that she knew well enough. Both were a bit fuzzy at the edges, one more tinged with darkness than the other, but she knew them. Her hand went to one of her lightsabers, and Scourge frowned.

"What is it?" he asked softly. "What do you sense?"

Aurelia reached out in the Force for the darker presence, trying to get a better grasp on it. It was strong and shadowy, yet she could feel just a hint of light. It couldn't be. "I know who's here," she said slowly, "and it's not Sith."

He went still and silent, and Aurelia could vaguely feel him searching for the others here, too. His back straightened and he looked down at her. "Do not let this distract you from our goal," he hissed. "She cannot be saved."

"I was saved."

"You had to be. It is you who will defeat the Emperor."

"Leeha can help," Aurelia murmured. "There's probably so much she could tell us."

"She cannot be redeemed, Jedi. Remember that."

Aurelia sighed and started towards the main hallway of the space station. She knew he was right - he was always right - but, kriff, she couldn't help but feel like it was her fault that Leeha was in this mess in the first place. And she'd always felt a connection to the Nautolan woman - and those droids of hers had been so cute… why did she have to fall? And why did she have to be here? And why did Scourge have to be so cynical all the time?

She tried to expel any thoughts about her old friend as she and Scourge fought through the station's defenses. As usual, between the two of them, it didn't take long and soon they stood just outside a door. Aurelia could feel Leeha's presence - and the other, lighter one - on the opposite side and she was unsure of what to do. On one hand Leeha was too dangerous to be left alive; as a Jedi she'd been one of the Order's most highly-skilled warriors and the Dark Side had the tendency to enhance such abilities. But… if she could be saved… Aurelia had to try. She and Scourge stepped through when the door opened.

Leeha was dressed in Sith garb, her robes dark and spiked. Her light green face was set with a grave smirk as she regarded the newcomers, and beside her the Meedees chirruped. Behind her stood Jomar Chul, worry clear on his tawny-colored face.

"Right on time," Leeha sneered. "You're practically a droid - I knew if I applied the right stimulus you couldn't resist coming here."

Anger began to flare up inside Aurelia and she couldn't help it.

"Something's wrong with Leeha," Jomar said, his voice pleading. "She's not herself. She tricked me."

Leeha ignored him. "Jomar was chasing proof you'd fallen to the dark side, and he fell into my trap like a greedy child. You were just as easy."

Aurelia took a moment to calm herself. She would not be goaded into a fight, especially not by Leeha. "The Emperor is controlling your mind," she said softly. "Resist him."

"Please don't hurt her." Jomar's eyes were sad, solemn. "She doesn't know what she's doing."

"Poor boy." Leeha finally acknowledged him, turning to face him. "You think you love me - but what we shared on Tython was only a shadow of true passion."

They… _what?_ Aurelia frowned, looking between the two of them for a moment. Well, no wonder Jomar seemed so desperate - he was in love with her. Her heart broke for the two of them, then, and she briefly wondered how Doc had handled her being under the Emperor's domination. She didn't want to think about that.

"They indulged their base desires," Scourge noted. "Impressive."

"Will you - " she started to hiss but now was not the time to get on him for being too Sith-y.

"I'll show you true ecstasy, Jomar," Leeha was purring, "but first things first." She turned back to Aurelia, her large black eyes fathomless with nothing but hate and anger and darkness, and they regarded each other for a moment.

Aurelia couldn't believe this was happening, and her body began to tremble slightly in frustration and anger and _this isn't fair - stars, not Leeha. Don't make me fight her._ "I don't want to hurt you," she said, trying in vain to plead with the fallen Jedi. "And if you care at all about Jomar, you'll surrender. Please."

Beside her Scourge scoffed and folded his arms across his chest, and she wanted to yell at him - _I know you want me to kill her but she's my friend. If it was reversed she would let me surrender. I know she would._ She wanted to yell in general because none of this was fair. Not what had happened to her, not what had happened to Leeha, to her and Jomar.

"Surrender is for the weak," Leeha hissed, and Aurelia's heart broke. "Jomar had that option. You don't."

No.

"You remember the Meedees?" Leeha was all smirks now. "I gave my little droid friends a few upgrades I think you'll enjoy. Briefly."

It was one of hardest fights Aurelia was ever in. At first she'd held back, desperately not wanting to hurt Leeha. She kept hearing Scourge's words in her head - _she cannot be saved_ \- and Kira's - _I couldn't have beaten the Emperor without your help_ \- and she felt lost, almost as lost as she had when she'd woken up on the Fortress. And Leeha was remorseless, relentless in her attacks; she hurled herself at Aurelia with such rage and power she was almost overwhelmed. Leeha had always been a fantastic warrior… _but maybe there's more power in the dark side._

 _Then I'll embrace it._

Aurelia fought back. With a quick, forceful leap she engaged in her Juyo form, returning Leeha's relentlessness with her own. She slashed and struck with her lightsabers, called on the Force for sudden blasts. The blaster wounds from the Meedees only incited her more and she flustered Leeha with a Force kick. The fallen Jedi stumbled back with a snarl.

"You will not win," she hissed.

"I think I will." Aurelia leapt on her again, anger and fear flowing in her veins. There was nothing else except the fight. She caught Leeha off guard with a lightsaber bash to the head. The other woman blocked it but lost her footing, her gasp barely audible. A nimble twist left a lightsaber slash across her abdomen, and another Force blast knocked her to the ground. Her saber skittered on the floor a few feet away. Scourge had taken the Meedees down, his dark healing now coursing through Aurelia's body as she advanced on Leeha.

 _It's her or me._

Leeha crawled back on her hands, chest heaving. "S-stop!... Stop!" She looked around wildly. "Wh-where are we? Aurelia?"

Aurelia stopped, lightsabers thrumming, a guilty sadness invading her body. What had she done?

Jomar chose that moment to rush forward, kneeling beside his lover. "Leeha, it's me," he murmured. "You'll be all right."

"My poor droids…" She winced, shifting onto her side. "How-how did we get here?"

Aurelia de-ignited her lightsabers, hearing Scourge do the same, and she kept her voice soft as she spoke. "It's been a long time since the Emperor defeated us. Try to remember. Concentrate."

"I… no. I don't want to."

 _I don't blame you._

"I can feel the Emperor's presence," she whispered. "I… he hates you. The things he made me do…"

This was her fault. This was all Aurelia's fault. Her stomach churned in knots at the thought. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You fought well," Scourge murmured beside her. "Now finish it."

 _Is he for real?_ Aurelia looked up at him, not even trying to hide her incredulity. "Are you serious? No. I can't - and I won't."

"She is dangerous, Aurelia."

"She's wounded and defenseless! Not only that, she must know something that can help us."

"There is still a chance he can take control of her again." Scourge's voice almost rose to a yell but Aurelia didn't flinch. She looked into his burning eyes.

"I am not killing her." She spoke each word emphatically, watching him fold his arms across his chest, glowering down at her. "She will heal on Tython and when she is ready she will tell the Council what she has learned. Is that clear?"

His nod would've been imperceptible to anyone else, and Aurelia responded with a curt nod of her own, trying desperately to keep her hands from shaking. Challenging Scourge agitated her stomach even more and she sighed slightly. She turned back to find Jomar holding Leeha around the waist, letting her lean against him.

"I have no right to ask you for anything - "

 _Especially not after I pissed off the Emperor's Wrath to keep your girlfriend alive._

" - but the Council doesn't need to know about us, Leeha and me," Jomar said softly. "Please keep it to yourself."

What a hypocrite she'd be if she told. "I won't tell a soul. You have my word."

"Thank you." He shifted, his arm sliding around Leeha's shoulders now, and she tilted further against him. "I… I'm sorry for all this. I was wrong about you."

"No you weren't," she grumbled. "I still fell."

"But not because you chose to." He sighed. "In any case, my mission wasn't a total failure - I overheard Leeha delivering orders from the Emperor to a high-ranking Sith. I couldn't hear details but all I know is that someone named Lord Fulminiss went on a secret mission to the planet Voss."

"Lord Fulminiss," Scourge repeated, and she gave him a sideways look, still shaking in her anger towards him. "The Emperor isn't taking any chances with Voss, then."

They'd talk about that later, but Leeha was more important. "Thank you, Jomar," Aurelia murmured. "Get Leeha to Tython, please."

He nodded. "Of course. Thank you for saving her - us."

Aurelia watched the two hobble off and she sighed, rubbing a hand down her tired face. She hadn't slept in two or three days now, and it was catching up with her. Exhaustion riddled her bones and her muscles ached with every movement.

"I assume you are aware the only reason I have yet to kill you is because of my vision," Scourge hissed.

She frowned and put her hands on her hips, facing him. "I can't believe you. Telling me to murder Leeha in front of her face - in front of Jomar's face? You're crazy."

"I am only ensuring we tie up loose en - "

"Leeha is not a loose end! She is a living, breathing being that the Emperor used to do stars know what!" Aurelia shook her head, pieces of her black locks falling from their bun, and she was almost trembling with rage and frustration. "And it's my fault. I wasn't strong enough to defeat him. I… he took them all down like they were nothing," she breathed, her eyes falling to the floor. She hadn't talked about what happened yet, not with Kira, not with Doc… not with anyone. And the pain and insecurity and guilt and pure _violation_ she felt had been building up and building up. It was hard to breathe all of a sudden. "He took them all down in a matter of seconds. I couldn't stop him - how-how can I stop him?"

Scourge was silent for a few moments - nothing more than she'd expected. And she kept rambling, panic settling in her stomach.

"What if I can't do it? What if I fail again? I can't… I can't fail again. I can't. The entire gal-galaxy is depending on me. My friends, the Council, the Republic, the Empire… trillions and trillions of lives depending on me. I…" Breath was not even coming now; she gasped for it, and her stomach churned and tears burned her eyes and _I can't breathe._ A voice in her head kept telling her to just take a breath and relax but she couldn't.

 _You're so stupid. Stop crying, idiot. You're such a child._

"Take a breath."

She'd almost forgotten Scourge was there and the self-loathing her anxiety made her feel only grew worse because she was acting like this in front of him. Even when she was a child she never, ever let anyone see her in a panic attack, and as she grew older and had so much more stress placed on her and the attacks got worse, she kept it to herself more. Not Kira, not even Doc knew. But now Scourge knew - _and he probably thinks you're ridiculous. Stop crying._

"Aurelia, _breathe_."

His voice was firm and she nodded, trying so hard to breathe. And then she jumped slightly when he reached out and grasped her shoulders. She could feel the warmth and strength of his hands through their armor and she focused on it, even as her breathing only quickened.

" _Slowly_ ," he hissed. "Blast it, Aurelia."

"I'm sor - "

"Don't. You have nothing to apologize for. Panic attacks are panic attacks - you just need to breathe."

Concentrating on his words and his voice and the gentle warmth of his hands was helping and she breathed _in ... and out... in ... and out_. And Scourge stayed silent as she calmed down, but she couldn't look him in the eyes; she was too embarrassed.

"How long have you experienced those?" he asked quietly.

"Since the Sith Academy," she responded in a timid, shaking voice. "The first time they sent me into the tombs on Korriban I saw the piles of bones of former acolytes, kids no older than me... and I freaked out."

"Hmm."

"What?" She peeked up at him, half-expecting him to call her weak.

"You were so confident and proud when we met on Quesh."

"Let me guess - you think I'm weak."

"Not at all."

She met his gaze full-on, those red eyes searing into her.

"I would expect you to be afraid to face the Emperor; it means you take this seriously. Which you should."

"Yeah but... what if I can't do it?"

He didn't answer her question, which didn't help her anxiety, but she continued to breathe. Instead, he said, "Your Council places too much pressure on you."

"The Council? _You_ put too much pressure on me. Kira puts too much pressure on me. Doc, Rusk, Teeseven…" She took a deep breath again and again, swiping at the few stray tears on her cheeks. "All anyone can talk about is how fantastic I am - I'm the Hero of Tython." It sounded mocking in her voice. "And yeah, I am pretty great, but what if I'm not as great as everyone says? And why does it have to be me? I got lucky when I killed Darth Angral. I - luck doesn't work against the Emperor. It-it doesn't." The panic started again, in her head and heart, and she started shaking.

"Relax, Aurelia. What is it your Code says?"

"There is no emotion, there is peace," she half-grumbled.

"Now is perhaps the only time I would advise following your Code."

Aurelia sort of smiled but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "I can't fail, Scourge."

"And you won't. Do not doubt your skills - you are an exceptional warrior. You were simply unprepared for your first encounter with the Emperor. But you will not be for the second. You know more of what to expect and I shall teach you the rest."

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

He nodded and took his hands from her shoulders, and she wasn't sure about the immediate disappointment she felt. "We need to return to the ship and set course for Voss."

As he turned and started to walk, she asked softly, "Did you mean that? That if it wasn't for your vision you'd kill me?"

Scourge sighed but he didn't turn around. "I would never lie to you, Jedi, especially not to spare your feelings, and I mean what I say."

"I know."

"However…" He seemed to hesitate, and another sigh escaped his lips. "I may have said those words in my momentary anger at you."

Aurelia knew that was as close to an apology as she was going to get and she fought a smile.

"And - perhaps it is not my place but you should not keep your emotions bottled up so tightly. I am certain the Jedi girl - "

"Kira."

His sigh was almost inaudible. " - or the doctor would listen."

"Are you worried about me? Oh wait, only for the sake of the galaxy, right?"

"Right. We cannot have your mental health slipping in such dire times."

Aurelia watched him walk away for a moment, and it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. As she trailed behind she couldn't help but marvel at how warm his hands had been on her, and how nice it felt.


	9. Chapter 9: Voss, Part One

**Sorry it's been so long! I've been busy with life and work and then KotET YESTERDAY. I loved it tbh. I thought it was a lot better than KotFE, for sure.**

 **But anyway. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Voss, Part One**

The moment she stepped off the ship she disliked Voss. It was sort of green, but a strange shade, like a brownish-green, and there were too many rocks and the sun was too bright… Aurelia had always been a city girl (one of the many cons about being born and raised in Kaas City) and had no real desire to be out in the open air, though Alderaan had been the exception. Sighing as she kicked a stray pebble across the dirt path she looked up at Scourge. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet since arriving, even as they'd battled through nexu, mawvorr, and Imps in a cave to try and find Lord Fulminiss - all to no avail of course (though they learned that the Sith-y piece of space garbage wanted to eradicate all life on Voss, almost begging the question of what is up with the rampant genocide in the Sith Order ?). Even now, as they approached a Voss outpost where they were to meet a new ally, Scourge remained quiet.

"Are you all right?" she asked him softly as they neared Tala-Reh's tent.

He gave a curt nod but said nothing.

She'd go further in depth later but they didn't have the time. Tala-Reh stood peacefully as Aurelia and Scourge walked in, and Aurelia regarded the slight Voss woman with cautious eyes. The Voss hadn't sounded too bad at first ("Just because they don't follow the Jedi Code doesn't make them bad people," she'd told Satele) but they were as much slaves to the Mystics as Sith were to the Emperor. It irritated her to no end, how they couldn't seem to think for themselves. "We're here," she said to the Tala-Reh. "You ready to go to the Shrine and take down Lord Fulminiss?"

"I cannot. The shrine is forbidden to me."

Of course it is.

"You must make the pilgrimage alone - the guardians will open the Shrine for you."

"What does Fulminiss even want there?" This all was much too vague for her tastes. "How will the Shrine of Healing help him destroy all life on Voss?"

"I do not know. Only those chosen may go to the Shrine."

Ugh, ugh, ugh.

"The Mystics have decreed it - I must wait here."

"You're sworn to protect Valen-Da, but all these laws and traditions stand in your way. Doesn't that make you angry?"

"We obey the Mystics."

Is she serious? "You can't let others just control your life like that," she maintained.

"The Mystics are never wrong."

Sure, and I'm a Kowakian monkey-lizard.

"We've seen what kind of man Lord Fulminiss is." Aurelia knew an argument was pointless and would get them nowhere but she couldn't stand blind worship in any way, shape, or form. "Surely you don't think Valen-Da is right to help him?"

"A Mystic is always right."

Oh gods.

She and Scourge continued the debate on the way to the Shrine - well actually, Aurelia just ranted while Scourge listened. She ranted about the ignorance of the Voss people and the way they just blindly revered their Mystics and yeah sure she listened to the Council but she had no issues talking back when she thought they were wrong - and she didn't always do what they ordered. And don't get her started on the Sith - talk about blind worship. Surprisingly, Scourge stayed silent during this part, waiting until they neared the Shrine to speak.

"I must confess, I partially agree with you," he said, folding his arms across his massive chest. "The Sith follow the Emperor too ignorantly."

"You never did."

"Only because I saw his true plans."

"You never told anyone?"

"What would I say? 'Oh Darth Marr, the Emperor is planning to murder us all with an ancient ritual but I have no proof except my word'. I highly doubt it would have gone over well."

"Well not if you say it like that," she grumbled.

They continued on into the Shrine, and it was unnaturally quiet. Their boots clicked and clomped on the stone floors and Aurelia felt like she shouldn't even speak. And she wasn't oblivious to the sudden calm that had come over her. Even if their Mystics were creepy and controlling, the Force really was strong with them. She and Scourge ran into a few deranged healers they had to defeat and then, of course (because why not) three golden Voss spirits appeared and told her to stop her slaughter.

She asked where Fulminiss had went.

"Gone," the single female spirit said, and Aurelia wanted to punch her.

"We taught Fulminiss the healing ritual," one of the men said. "He perverted it."

"Corrupted, it rips open the mind," the other said. "Violence and slaughter are unleashed."

"The dark side has the power to corrupt life itself," Scourge had told her earlier, and her stomach churned. "And Fulminiss is a master at manipulating evolution to create unimagined horrors."

This was not good.

"Valen-Da left a message," the first man said. "In the corner."

Scourge stood behind her as she rifled through the box, and she could feel his apprehension. It wasn't quite fear - it was more like distrust. She found the holo but the damn thing wouldn't activate. When she turned and asked the Voss spirits why they told her to take it to Tala-Reh.

"This is a waste of time," she spat. "Your planet is in grave danger - and no one around here can give me a straight answer!"

And, very Voss-like of her, the female spirit murmured, "Our task is done," and they disappeared.

* * *

Scourge didn't speak again until they were almost at the Dark Heart Approach. They had just taken down a gigantic vorantikus and he stepped away from it, clipping his lightsaber back on his belt. "Either you are an exemplary warrior of your Order, or perhaps the Jedi aren't as weak as I originally thought."

"I'm taking that as a compliment." He watched her de-ignite her sabers and return them to her hips, and then she smiled. "And I'm also never letting you live that down."

Scourge gave a tight-lipped smile, still slightly breathless from defeating the creature. If he was being honest with himself her snarky remarks were growing on him. "I am not too prideful to admit that I have actually… learned something from my time with you."

She leaned against a gnarled tree for a short breather, letting her hair fall from its bun. It tumbled down her shoulders and back, a myriad of dark shades, curling at the tips. "Is that right?"

He nodded. "For three hundred years I have spoken to no one but Sith. And Sith do not change." He heard the irritation in his own voice and Aurelia smirked, brushing her fingers through her hair as she listened to him. "They are the same on Korriban now as in my childhood. The same tricks, the same fights, the same mind tricks, the same groveling."

"Yeah, that's why I got out." She started working on braiding her hair, sighing when her fingers slipped and she grabbed the wrong pieces. "I couldn't stand it."

"I do not blame you. But the Jedi are… different."

"Was that almost a compliment?" She groaned softly as she messed up the braid once more and she shook her long locks out. And then her eyes turned up to his, and he already knew what she was going to ask. "You, um, you don't know how to braid hair, do you?"

He cleared his throat and when he spoke, his voice was guarded. Intentionally so. "Perhaps."

"You do, don't you?"

"If I say yes, will I be roped into braiding yours?"

"Of course."

He sighed heavily, shaking his head, and his irritation rose. He had been working hard since Korriban's Flame to keep his distance from her, as best he could. The way she had looked at him after he stepped away from her, after she'd calmed down, the soft hints of pleasure and desire he'd felt coursing through her body the entire time… as interesting as it was and as much as he might enjoy exploring it further - well, for starters he could not feel desire himself, and there was too much to focus on without the distractions of a lover. For both of them - which was one of the many reasons the doctor's presence irritated him. But … allowing her to feel and embrace the dark side as she had, as she did with the doctor...there was no real harm in that, was there?

"If you don't want to do it - " she started.

He cut her off with a raised hand and a soft 'turn around'. He tried to be gentle as his fingers slowly worked her hair into a long braid, and he could feel every little thing she felt - peace, then pleasure, desire… She swayed slightly and he sensed exhaustion. Fatigue. They'd found shelter in a tent the night before at the outpost several klicks away from the Nightmare Lands and, from what he could tell, she had slept long, if not well. But he knew that his fingers running through her hair was doing this to her.

"What'd you mean when you said you were learning from me?" she asked quietly.

"I only meant that I am surprised I have learned the most of the Force from a Jedi," he responded in a quiet voice as well, mentally sensing more than physically feeling her shiver. "Revan taught me to be effective when I became the Emperor's Wrath. And now I have learned as much from you."

"Is that a threat?" she asked, half-teasing. "I know what you did to your last master."

"Indeed you do," and his voice held a soft laugh. "It is always a dangerous time, no, when the pupil exceeds the master?" He gently tugged her hair into the band she used, then ran his hand the length of the braid, and he wondered fleetingly if her hair was as soft as it looked. "There."

She turned to face him, touching the braid as well, and she grinned. "Wow. How'd you learn to braid like this?"

"A woman I was involved with long ago would ask me to braid her hair every morning."

"Ooh, Scourge had a girlfriend?"

He scowled, inwardly kicking himself for bringing it up. "This is not the time, nor the place. You have taken a break - now we must stop Lord Fulminiss."

"Yeah, okay. We'll table it for later."

He half-sighed, half-groaned, and Aurelia smiled.

* * *

Fulminiss was quite a warrior. And by that, Aurelia meant that he was quite a dirty cheat. He would use fancy Force tricks like lightning and blasting her back and knocking her out when she had the upper hand. Why couldn't he use his lightsaber or why couldn't he just knock it the hell off ? She was so irritated by his smug "interlopers" comment and his sleazy combat skills that she had no problem striking him down with a lightsaber to the gut. Gods, Sith were the worst. Then she realized Tala-Reh and Valen-Da were still there and she nearly groaned. The Voss were almost as bad.

"Outsider," Valen-Da said to her. "A victory well-earned. My vision nears completion.

"Way to stand off in the corner during the battle," she scowled. "Thanks a lot."

"Forgive her tone, honored one," Tala-Reh murmured. "She does not understand our ways."

Yeah, damn right.

Valen-Da took this moment to try and explain everything - what Fulminiss had planned, his own vision, and the evilness that was Sel-Makor; an ages-old being of twisted, pure malice, the heart of the Nightmare Lands. He said it needed to be destroyed, and Aurelia tended to agree; nobody, no matter how infuriatingly vague or arrogant, should have to go through the insanity she saw in the Nightmare Lands.

"I accompanied Fulminiss so Tala-Reh would follow," Valen-Da murmured. "Only she can destroy Sel-Makor."

"What, your 'vision' told you that?" Aurelia snarked. She and visions weren't at a very good standing right now; to be honest, she wasn't even sure she believed in Scourge's.

Valen-Da nodded.

"Well, what's my role in all this?"

He turned to face her. "Your part is done. Tala-Reh would not be here without you."

"Honored one," she said to him, "tell me what I must do."

"Descend the steps into the maw of Sel-Makor." Valen-Da faced her again. "Confront the evil. Destroy it."

Aurelia folded her arms across her chest, frowning. Wasn't this a better job for a Jedi?

"You will not survive," Valen-Da finished.

Aurelia couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're asking Tala-Reh to make the ultimate sacrifice - you're asking her to give her life for a vision ?"

"This is my destiny," she said, her voice ever stony. "My actions will save all of Voss."

"No!" Sel-Makor's disembodied voice was angry, and it howled the word. "Violation. Defilement. Extinction. This must not be!"

And then Aurelia felt it in her mind, the utter darkness of Sel-Makor settling inside her. She shook her head to try and clear it, and she fought it, even as it commanded her to shove Valen-Da into it; even as it promised her rewards and power for doing so. She wouldn't - she couldn't do it (and frankly she was getting real sick of being possessed by the dark side).

"You are a being of pure evil," she said, her voice strong. "And you must be destroyed."

Tala-Reh walked the steps that led down into Sel-Makor's heart - and moments later the being bellowed in rage. It closed in on itself and the room shook and Aurelia's heart ached just a little. That Tala-Reh would so willingly sacrifice herself for the greater good… Aurelia knew that, as a Jedi, she always had to be prepared to do the same but she never wanted to. She was too selfish.

When the shaking stopped, Aurelia stood up. Valen-Da tried his usual Voss Mystic bantha shit on her but she scoffed. "You used Tala-Reh," she said. "You used her, and you manipulate the other Voss into doing whatever you want."

"Outsiders cannot understand. My vision guided all Voss to a better life."

"Anyone else could have destroyed Sel-Makor - you could have. But instead you set up a whole ruse and tricked Tala-Reh by saying it was her 'destiny', when I could have easily just thrown my kriffing lightsaber in there. Not only that, but in this ruse, you let people die. Innocent and guilty alike."

"Lives were lost," he murmured. "Many more were saved."

Arguing was meaningless at this point and Aurelia let him return to Voss-Ka without another comment. But she and Scourge lingered a few moments.

"I...I probably should've stepped in or something, offered myself up as a sacrifice," she murmured, staring at the pile of rubble burying Sel-Makor, "but I've just never understood the whole 'risking your life for the greater good' thing. I don't know… it just doesn't make much sense to me."

"If it had been any of your crew instead of Tala-Reh," Scourge said softly, "would you have done the same?"

Aurelia looked at him for a moment, and her answer came almost immediately. "No," she murmured. "If it'd been Kira, I would've stepped up and sacrificed myself. Same with Doc or Rusk… Even you."

Scourge met her eyes quietly. "You continue to baffle me, Jedi. Something, I must say, I do not admit lightly."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I've not decided yet."

"Hmm." She looked back to the rubble with a sigh, and neither of them spoke for a few moments. Then Scourge murmured, "Your Jedi Exile thought much the same. At times."

"What, about not sacrificing your loved ones?"

He nodded. "When she, Revan, and I confronted the Emperor there was a moment when Revan was almost overcome by the strength of the Emperor. Meetra threw her lightsaber to knock the Emperor's own weapon from his hands to save her friend's life. She could have killed the Emperor then and there - but it would've meant sacrificing Revan."

Aurelia sighed. "I would do it too," she whispered, "if it meant I got to keep someone I loved safe."

"This time, Jedi, it would not be one life against another - it would be one life against the entire galaxy. There will be no room for unnecessary heroics when you face him."

She nodded glumly, wishing for just one second that she was someone else. That she had never been born Sith, or Jedi - that she was no one special.

"Shall we return to the ship?" Scourge asked quietly.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm sick of this planet."

"I can see why you're a Knight," he said as they started to walk. "You possess no diplomatic skills whatsoever."

"Is that a joke, or fact?"

He didn't respond.

* * *

They were almost out of the Nightmare Lands, walking in silence, when Aurelia heard a noise, a rustling from a nearby bush. She stopped, and so did Scourge. Her hand twitched to her lightsaber, and she scanned the area.

"You feel it?" she asked Scourge.

He nodded, igniting his lightsaber. Aurelia did the same.

And then there was a blaster at the back of her head.


	10. Chapter 10: Voss, Part Two

**Bonus points if you can find my little AotC reference lmao**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: Voss, Part Two**

There weren't many times Aurelia had ever been ambushed, but she wasn't scared now. No, she was more irritated than scared. How the hell had they'd been snuck up on? Even with their lightsabers out, Aurelia felt vulnerable. It'd been a long time since someone had gotten the drop on her and she hated it.

"Oh come on," came a husky, lilting voice behind her. A woman's voice, unfamiliar. "We were just having fun. You guys didn't have to pull those out."

From the corner of her eye, Aurelia could see a blonde man standing behind Scourge, pressing an electrostaff to his back. But she couldn't see who was behind her. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Not you." She moved to stand in front of them, her yellow, tattooed lekku twitching as she smirked, Mandalorian armor shining in the sun. Then she pointed both of her blaster pistols in Scourge's face. "The Dark Council says hello," she cooed.

Scourge made a soft noise, something between a sigh and a groan, and his body tensed up even more. But he didn't put his lightsaber back. "I assume they believe they're doing me a great dishonor by hiring a common mercenary to kill me."

The Twi'lek laughed, her eyes hard. "A 'common mercenary'? You're talking to the Grand Champion of the Great Hunt. Republic's Most Wanted."

"Wait…" Aurelia took a step back, was blocked by the stocky blonde man. "You're - you're the Mandalorian that killed Kellian Jarro."

"Technically, at that point, I wasn't a Mandalorian." She grinned. "I was actually just a common mercenary."

"But you killed him. You killed a Jedi." Aurelia ignited her other lightsaber, anger suddenly coursing through her veins. She remembered the day it happened; just a week after she had lost her own master to Darth Angral, a few days after she'd murdered him and destroyed the Desolator weapon, and she'd been feeling particularly pro-Jedi and pro-Republic. And then to hear that one of her own, a war hero, had been brutally murdered by some bounty hunter, his body left to disintegrate on an imploding cruiser? "Gods, I hate Mandalorians."

And then she attacked.

Scourge took on the Twi'lek, deflecting her attacks flawlessly and throwing in a few vicious attacks (particularly to her legs) of his own. Aurelia fought the young blonde kid, and he was insanely skilled with that bulky electrostaff. She'd only battled a handful of Mandalorians in her time, and she'd forgotten just how infuriating their armor was, how difficult it was to make even a dent with a lightsaber. So she struck where his armor didn't reach; between his shoulder plates and his knees. But even as he winced he kept fighting. And she was tiring already; they wouldn't be able to do this much longer. A quick look to Scourge told her he was feeling the same.

 _Kriffing Mandalorians_.

Scourge called on the Force, gathering it and summoning it into a big enough wave of energy to blast the Twi'lek back, and Aurelia could feel it - almost like an electrical charge in the air. But before he could, the blonde kid slammed the butt of his electrostaff into Aurelia's stomach, and the world went half-black. She felt herself stumble backward as a deep, tight, searing pain radiated through her abdomen, her breath escaping her lungs. She couldn't breathe, and she coughed and she gasped, the next few seconds going by through blurry, tear-filled vision. It felt like minutes.

The blonde man darted towards Scourge just as he lifted his hands and knocked his electrostaff into Scourge's unguarded side. He dropped his lightsaber with a strained noise, like a gasp, and then the kid clocked him in the back of the head with the staff. He went down immediately, and Aurelia's heart hammered in her chest and she tried to breathe, but something felt like it had lodged itself between her lungs and just stabbed , over and over, with every inhale. The Twi'lek raised her wrist, aiming at Scourge's still body, for what Aurelia wasn't sure but she was damned if she'd let them hurt Scourge any worse.

She took all the pain and anger and fear she felt, gathering the Force, trying to do what Scourge couldn't do earlier, and she thrust her arms out, sending the Twi'lek back against one of the twisted trees. She hit it with a _whoomph_ , the pistols falling from her hands, and she slumped down to the ground. The blonde man rushed toward her and another quick blast sent him back in the other direction. He smacked against a large boulder, effectively knocking him unconscious. But Aurelia didn't care; she was focused on the Twi'lek, and she advanced on the woman, lightsabers drawn, ribs screaming in agony.

"Cheater," the mercenary coughed, slumped back against the tree. Then, "You don't have to kill me, you know."

"And why not?" Aurelia reached down and gripped the woman's armor, lifting her up and pinning her to the tree. A small voice deep in her head was telling her stop, this isn't you but she didn't care. Her body was in pain (she'd probably broken a rib or two), she'd been bested by two Mandalorians, and they'd hurt Scourge. (Now, why that pissed her off most of all she wasn't sure.) "Because I'm pretty keen to just finish you right here," she snarled.

"That's not very Jedi-like."

In one fluid motion she ignited her lightsaber and held it across the hunter's throat, the blade mere inches from her skin. "I'm not feeling very Jedi-like right now," Aurelia hissed.

"Huh. Well." She cleared her throat, eyes finding Aurelia's. They were wide and cold with fear, and underneath her tough, cocky exterior Aurelia could feel that fear, that anxiety, and it only fueled her. "You know, we didn't want you. The Emperor just wants his precious Wrath back. Apparently."

"You spoke to the Emperor personally? _You_?"

The woman laughed, outright, though it shook, and Aurelia's anger flared up. "Don't be stupid. He had one of his Dark Council lackeys do it for him."

"Which one?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm the one with the lightsaber to your throat."

"Go ahead, kill me. If I return to my client empty-handed, I'm dead anyway."

"Tell me what you know."

"What's it to you?" She grinned an impish grin, and she was all arrogance now. "'Fraid your boyfriend's gonna get got?"

Aurelia made a noise that resembled something near a snarl and a growl, and she shoved the Twi'lek back, hard, into the tree, the lightsaber even closer to her throat. Rage coursed through her veins, dark and red. She was running out of patience and Scourge was still unconscious and the entire galaxy was at stake and she just wanted to get back to the ship and sleep. "Tell me!"

"Aurelia?"

Scourge's voice was hardly a rasp and she whirled around to find him trying to hoist himself up. Relief flooded her body and she let go of the Twi'lek, no other thoughts but _Scourge_ in her mind. Clipping her lightsabers back at her side she knelt beside him and gently cradled his head in her hands, ignoring his unceremonious frown and telling herself she was holding him like this to examine his injuries. There was a deep bruise on the back of his head, a knot there too, and his armor was split at his side where the staff had struck. His face was littered with cuts and blemishes, and she touched a particularly nasty one above his eyebrow, her fingers coming back wet and red with blood. He didn't wince or groan or anything and Aurelia had to remind herself that he couldn't feel pain. But still...

"What… what happened?" he murmured, trying to sit up.

"Ssh, just relax. You probably have a concussion. Lay back."

"Where are we? Are we on Voss? The last thing I remember…"

"We were attacked." She touched the bruise on his eyebrow again, and she focused on it, focused on letting whatever feeble healing abilities she'd picked up over the years flow through her fingertips and against his head. He arched his back slightly, a soft sigh escaping his lips, and the discoloration turned from a darkish purple back to red. Then she started on the knot at the back of his head, concentrating.

"Aurelia, why are you healing me? I cannot even feel pa - "

"I know but if you do have a concussion I don't need you collapsing on me. You're too kriffing heavy for me to carry. Now hold _still_."

"Great stars, this is gross." The mercenary stood a few meters away, holding her blaster pistols. "I was gonna let it go on because it's sort of sweet I guess, but… no. Ew."

" _You_ ," Scourge hissed, and he sat up. Then he groaned, hand flying to his head as he swayed slightly. Aurelia moved away and helped him stand up, not even caring that the Twi'lek was still there, still alive, only wishing that Scourge wasn't so damned stubborn and hoping he wouldn't injure himself more, the asshole. Then she watched as he broke away from her and Force choked the hunter. "Who hired you?" he demanded in a low, hoarse voice. "And you will tell me of your own accord, or I will force it from you."

"Scourge, don't torture her," Aurelia said, starting towards him, knowing that even injured he could still do a lot of damage.

"I am not listening to you this time," he hissed, not even looking at her, and tightened his Force grip on the Twi'lek. She kicked her legs, hands moving to her throat, eyes wide, lekku twitching erratically. "She will tell me, or I will kill her."

"She and I already had this conversation. Just let her go. We can get her to talk - we don't need to torture her."

He growled and unflexed his hand, and the Twi'lek fell to the ground, coughing and struggling for breath. In the same moment he whirled on Aurelia, his red eyes dark and hard. She fought against the sudden stab of dread and stood straight, refusing to look away. "Then you get her to talk or I'll - " He swayed slightly and clutched the back of his head, and this time his growl was a lot more feral.

"I will," she said calmly. " You need to rest. You're injured."

"There are more important things right now."

She sighed. Why was he so damn stubborn? "Scourge…"

" _Make her talk_."

After another sigh she approached the recovering mercenary. "Just do the easy thing and talk," she said. "Tell us who hired you and we'll let you go."

"Kriff." She sat up, rubbing her throat. "No amount of credits is worth this. Fine." Her blue eyes found Scourge and she said, "Darth Marr hired me to bring you to him."

He stopped, frowning deeply. "Marr - Marr wants me alive ?"

"I guess so. Not sure why."

Scourge looked at Aurelia, and she didn't need the Force to know that he was confused. But he masked it well after a moment and looked back to the mercenary with hard eyes. "What else do you know?"

"How bad you wanna know?"

He laughed once, wry and harsh. "Do not push me, hunter."

"Yeah that was pretty stupid. Can't blame a girl for trying, though."

"Tell us what we wanna know, now ," Aurelia demanded, her hand moving to her lightsaber, even though she had no intention of using it.

"Hey, okay, no need to get angry." The Twi'lek woman stood up, and her eyes drifted behind the two, probably watching her companion, and for a moment her face softened. "You didn't - you didn't kill him, did you?" she asked softly.

Aurelia turned. The blonde kid was still slumped against the rock, and Aurelia reached out to him through the Force. He was still alive, just unconscious, and she looked back at the Twi'lek. The look on her face made Aurelia sad. Yeah she was a Mando and yeah she'd killed a Jedi (and lots of other people) but she was still a person who cared about other people. This was just her job, just like Aurelia's was protecting the Republic. "He'll be okay. Now what can you tell us?"

"Not much. Marr only told me what I needed to know, but I do know that the Empire's pissed." She looked at Scourge, and he itched for his lightsaber. "I think they wanna kill you themselves."

"They won't," he said emphatically, and then he held his lightsaber out, igniting it. "And you cannot return knowing who I am and where I am."

"Whoa, hang on, I told you - "

"Scourge, don't," Aurelia said softly, looking up at him. "You don't - there's no need for this."

He frowned at her. "Just minutes ago, you wanted to kill her too. I saw you holding your lightsaber to her throat."

"Yeah but we don't have to." She lowered her voice, turning towards him. "If she returns empty-handed Marr's probably gonna kill her anyway. She won't be our problem, then."

"You don't want the guilt," he hissed.

She sighed at his words; maybe he had a point. "Just don't do this, okay?"

Scourge sighed heavily, shaking his head as his eyes bored into hers, and his face set in a livid scowl. "You infuriate me, Jedi."

"Feeling's mutual. Put your lightsaber down, okay? Please?"

He did, still glaring at her.

"For the record," the bounty hunter said slowly, as if testing her words, "I would've killed me. And my companion. So, um, thanks. I guess?"

"Just get out of here before I change my mind," Aurelia grumbled.

She slunk away towards her companion, reviving him quickly, and she supported him as they left the clearing. Scourge didn't speak, and Aurelia could feel his anger. Hell, she didn't even need the Force to feel it. It hardened his face and his eyes and his shoulders, and his hands shook from it, and she wondered why he was so... so pissed. Maybe it was just everything, especially the fact that he was officially branded a traitor now, that his Empire was trying to kill him. Her heart ached for him, even if it would make him even angrier. But he'd left everything behind for her, for their cause; his entire life and everything he'd probably ever known was back on Dromund Kaas. And now he could never go back to it.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, taking a step towards him. "I - "

"I do not need your pity, Jedi," he snapped.

"Don't shut me out. If I have to break down and talk to you about my panic attacks, you need to talk to me about this."

"About what?" He faced her with a scoff. "There is nothing to talk about."

"Don't do that. I hate that shit."

"What do you want me to say?"

She sighed heavily, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't know. I just want you to be honest with me."

He laughed, but it was a hard, bitter sound, and she winced. "Do not mistake this for something it's not. We are merely allies with a common goal, nothing more - certainly not friends."

Of course she wouldn't get anything out of him; she was stupid to think otherwise. "Fine."

"Good. Now we should - " He sighed, shaking his head again. It was accompanied by another slight swaying and he looked more perturbed than in pain.

"I'd heal you. If we were friends." Which was a lie; if he asked her to she'd do it right now, without hesitating.

He fixed her with a look. "You are insufferable."

"Takes one to know one."

"And childish."

"Tell me something I don't know." She stood up onto a nearby rock, hearing his sigh. "Now you better hold still or I swear I'll just leave you here."

"No you wouldn't."

"Try me."

" _Just heal me_ ," he snarled, and she took his head in her hands, and focused on mending his injuries. Since she had specialized in combat and not healing, it always took a lot out of her, and if she didn't concentrate right it wouldn't work. So she tried not to think about how Scourge's soft breathing and the way he clenched and relaxed made her stomach coil (and why she was even focusing on that in the first place). Her healing Force wavered and she suddenly swayed, her knees going weak. Scourge caught her with an arm around her waist, gently settling her on her feet.

"I can make it back to the ship," he said quietly. "You will not if you continue."

"You're hurt ."

"And you are weakened." He grasped her shoulders, his red eyes locked on hers. "Enough." His voice was soft. "You do not need to exhaust yourself on my account, especially when I can't feel pain.."

"Well, I - ah! " A fierce, shooting pain dug into her ribs and she couldn't help but lean against Scourge, gasping for breath as that - that thinginside her stabbed at her lungs. "Augh, oh - shit, kriff… I think that damned blonde kid broke my ribs."

"Let me help." His hand rested just under her breast and she bit back a wince as his increasingly-familiar dark side power began to flow through her. But even though she'd felt it many times now it still hurt. She could feel her bones shifting inside her, slowly stitching themselves back together, and she screamed, digging her fingers into his back. He held onto her tight. The pain lessened as the bones healed and the contusion beneath her skin loosened, and then she stayed in his arms for a moment, catching her breath.

"Better?" he whispered, and she nodded, drawing back.

"Yeah," she murmured, finding his eyes. "Thanks."

He nodded quickly. "We ought to get back to the ship."

"I hope you know I'm not letting this go," she said as they started walking.

"And I hope you know I will not talk about it."

"We'll see about that."

"Right."


End file.
